Cherry blossoms in the snow
by Danielwain
Summary: This is a story that revolves around the relationship between Sakuya and Youmu. It contains violence and will contain yuri much later on and more violence and drama upon exploring Sakuya's past and other events. In other words, it's almost completely fictional. It will also have a fair amount of fluff for now. Feel free to leave reviews, enjoy reading it.
1. First encounter

Sakuya's POV upon entering the netherworld (PCB Stage 5)

...

Cherry petals, countless of them, drifting into the heavens, into this strange world... if I wasn't here on behalf of my mistress I would be tempted to simply watch this scenery in front of my eyes. And if it wasn't for these discourteous ghosts.

The dead are supposed to be quiet, but this is not the first time that I had to fight ghosts. Though I didn't do it with these knives before. They seem to be effective against these lesser ones, but it is almost certain that they are not the cause of this incident.

No, there has to be something else here. I can almost sense it...

"You're a human. I see. Just what I needed. I shall drain every drop of the spring from you!" I was already expecting this. She seems to be rather strong, with two swords, a long one in her right hand and a short one in her left hand.

Though she isn't exactly using them. Well, Gensokyo is such a world, I guess. So many powerful beings, so little use their powers. Probably for the best, even my mistress and myself wouldn't be able to compete with some of them.

She is fighting rather agressive, but I don't have much trouble avoiding her danmaku. She seems to be getting rather frustrated as she uses her first spell card. I wonder just how serious she is about defeating me...

I didn't even have to use my abilities on this journey, except for retrieving my knives. All these annoying fairies aren't worth my time and my knives. The other enemies I encountered so far were no real challenge either. I wouldn't even have to use my knives, probably...

She is definitely not that weak, but her patterns are rather obvious. Though she seems to slow down time as well, probably because of her speed... Not to her advantage, that makes dodging even easier. I really don't have to use my knives at all, she will probably tire herself out before long.

My expectations seem to be coming true, since she is retreating. For now, she will probably be back after a short while. In the meantime I just have to take care of these ghosts...

They weren't much of a challenge after all. A few of my knives were more than enough for them. But I will probably have to face that girl again rather soon. I couldn't exactly get a good view on her, she was very fast and I had her danmaku to worry about as well.

This time she won't be able to surprise me. How rude, attacking someone without even introducing yourself first... I should probably teach her some manners. Well, I don't have to worry about that until I meet her again.

I wonder for what reason she is stealing the spring from Gensokyo in the first place... not that there is any room for negotiations, my orders were absolute. "Return the spring as soon as possible and by any means necessary." That was all my mistress told me.

'Crack' Ah, she seems to be waiting for me behind those cherry trees. If she was trying to prepare an ambush or something like that she didn't do a good job... She made a lot of noise. Probably a tree branch or something...

"Come on out." She just does so. I guess she was just waiting, after all. Now I can see her properly. She is wearing a dark green dress with a white belt and a white shirt, on her back are her two swords, the longer one a black katana and the shorter one looks like a Japanese short sword. Those might also have their own names, but I'm not very familiar with Japanese weapons.

She seems to be rather young. Her short hair is of a light silver, much lighter than my own, almost white, and held back with a black ribbon. The most prominent features of her face are her dark red eyes, a strong contrast to her pale skin and hair. Next to her is a white spirit. It looks rather fluffy, I almost feel tempted to touch it...

"So this is why all the ghosts were so noisy... It's because a living human has come." She seems rather young, but she is also pretty calm, considering her previous retreat. She was probably just testing me...

"We may be opponents, but we should still maintain a certain degree of courtesy, shouldn't we? Let me introduce myself. You may call me Izayoi Sakuya." I drop a small curtsey. Just because we are enemies doesn't mean we have to treat each other as barbarians would treat one another, though she seems to be surprised by this gesture.

"K-Konpaku Youmu..." She also tries it and does surprisingly well, for her first time. She is a little bit deficient in ellegance, but I guess that is kind of cute. Well, that shouldn't matter right now...

"I presume you to be the source of this incident. It took me a whole day to get here." And what a day... All those annoying fairies, my other opponents and the snow... I will definitely have to take a bath and change my clothes before I clean up the mansion. It will probably be in a horrible shape...

"In coming here, you have exercised great composure. This is Hakugyokurou. The deceased live on in this place. Acting on the common sense of the living will land you in a mess." As long as gravity and time don't follow different rules I see no problem. Besides...

"The dead are supposed to rest, not speak. Now return the spring you stole." It doesn't matter what her reason might be, I will return the spring to Gensokyo, with or without her consent.

"Hold on a bit." I would, if it wasn't for the orders of my mistress. And I have to get back as soon as I can, the Scarlet Devil Mansion is completely lost without me taking care of the household...

"That's a little bit too long." I just want this to be over with already...

"Soon, the Saigyou Ayakashi will reach full bloom. That could never happen with a normal spring." It doesn't concern me.

"I said I don't care." Besides, who knows what happens to the spring if it's used up by the Saigyou Ayakashi.

"The trace of spring you brought here can bring the Saigyou Ayakashi to full bloom." She is just going on and on about her Saigyou Ayakashi... I think I heard Patchouli-sama(*¹) talking about that tree once. It was some sort of seal, wasn't it...?

"Are you even listening to me? I've traveled through the cold only to find such a selfish idea." A nice cherry tree for her and her mistress and a long winter for the rest of Gensokyo...

"But it's warm here, isn't it?" I wouldn't mind it so much if my mistress was here... On the other hand, how should the roses in our mansion blossom in winter? No, I have to take care of this.

"That's enough already. Let us end this." I don't think there is any way around a fight, so I might as well get it over with...

"Indeed. I will consume the warmth of your spring." Heh, I wonder how she wants to do that...

"I wonder, can my knives even cut ghosts?" Hm, I should have thought about that beforehand... Well, if they don't I will figure something else out. It's not as if I could have known I would be facing ghosts...

"The things which cannot be cut by my Roukan Blade, forged by youkai... Are close to none!" Well, we will see about that. I am sure that it can't cut through time. And if she's going to use nothing but danmaku that won't help her in any way.

It seems as if she would be a lot stonger if she would attack me with her swords. But that would be against the rules of Gensokyo. We aren't supposed to kill our opponents in combat. Strange rules, but my mistress asked me to abide by them.

"Is that all you have to offer?" It isn't very difficult to avoid her attacks. Compared to my other opponents today her attacks are rather strong, but they are still just danmaku. She doesn't have any special techniques either, from what I can tell, other than her speed.

"Of course not. I'm only getting started." Hm, danmaku, danmaku and more danmaku... I hate such fights, so boring and meaningless... I will just go on avoiding her attacks, I don't even need my knives for this, much less my ability to manipulate time. I will just wait until they are over, that way I have at least some kind of a challenge...

"You are almost done, aren't you?" I can tell. She might act tough, but she already used most of her spell cards. Soon I will be able to meet her mistress. Then I will just have to defeat her and everything will return to normal. And I can return to my mistress, though I wouldn't mind some tea before returning...

"Not yet. I will defeat you!" Great words for someone who is about to lose...

...

I have to admit, this spell card was rather challenging, but I still didn't have much trouble. It was rather random, or so it seems to me. Still, there was more than enough room for me to dodge. Maybe I just got lucky... Now that the time is up I can just go ahead.

"Wait, I can't let you through..." She is rather persistent, isn't she?

"And what do you want to do to stop me?" She could still attack me directly with her swords, but that would be against the rules. And even she shouldn't be stupid enough to attack me like that, she has no chance.

"I... I will..." She is still thinking about what she will do. I have no time for this. I will just follow the cherry petals and leave her behind. She isn't wounded at all, so there's no problem in leaving her behind.

"You have no chance against me without using your swords. No, even with you swords you couldn't stop me, Konpaku-san. You should just wait until this is over." With these words I take off. I just hope she takes heed of these words.

I don't want to kill her because of such a meaningless conflict. She is still young and has most of her life ahead of herself... She also reminds me of someone I once knew, a long, a very long time ago...

...

Youmu's POV, meeting Sakuya for the first time

...

Even this many cherry petals aren't enough to make the Saigyou Ayakashi blossom... There isn't much spring missing, it is almost there, but I already gathered most of the spring of Gensokyou here, so where should I find the missing spring?

'Sigh' But this is quite a scenery... Never before was this place so full of cherry petals... I wish it could stay like this forever. But the ghosts are very restless. There might be someone from Gensokyo, trying to get back their spring...

Probably some youkai. Well, if they show up I will just defeat them. They might even carry some spring in them. That way I could fulfill the wish of Yuyuko-sama...

Wait, there is something coming... it doesn't seem to be a youkai, that much is sure. Well, regardless of what it is, I have to stop it. It is alive, it doesn't belong here. And it is carrying a lot of spring with it... A human.

"You're a human. I see. Just what I needed. I shall drain every drop of the spring from you!" What a strange way of clothing... A uniform, I guess. It seems to be very hard to move in, so she shouldn't be a very strong opponent. It must be my lucky day or something...

You can't judge a book by it's cover, or so it seems. Despite that strange dress she is moving graciously between my danmaku, it almost looks like a gracious dance... I have clearly underestimated her.

She doesn't even fight back... Is she... taunting me!? Grr, I have to retreat for now. I will just fight her once I calmed down a little and get my thoughts in order. I was just too distracted by her strange appearance.

Though she does seem to be strong, I have to admit that. I have never seen anyone dodging like that, not even my previous master. Well, it is hard to compare them, grandfather was never seriously fighting me either. What is she doing here? She is probably here because of the spring I gathered...

I will face her again soon enough, until then the ghosts can take care of her. Though they won't be much of a match for her, I guess. She is rather fascinating for a human. I wonder how old she is? I didn't get to see her very well, but she seemed to be fairly young, even by human standards.

By the standards of my kin I myself am still fairly young, but probably much older than her. But her movements didn't seem like those of some young human. If she is this strong, without even using her weapons at all I can't imagjne what kind of training she must have been through...

I myself have received some harsh training when I was training with my grandfather, though we never completed it. Fastening, meditation, survival in general and the training of my sword techniques. But how can a human at a young age be so strong? 'Crack' A branch...

"Come on out." A calm voice, very brittle and confident. That wasn't a ghost, was it!? No, calm down. It was just that human. Now I feel embarrassed, but I can't show her that...

"So this is why all the ghosts were so noisy... It's because a living human has come." Hm, she is wearing a really strange uniform, a long dark blue dress with long sleeves and a white apron over it. More than just a white apron, other white things as well.

Rather frilly. That's a very strange outfit for a fight, but she seems to have no disadvantages because of it... Around her neck is a long red scarf. She wears her silver hair in two long braids with green ribbons to keep them that way while most of her hair is held back by a white headband.

"We may be opponents, but we should still maintain a certain degree of courtesy, shouldn't we? Let me introduce myself. You may call me Izayoi Sakuya." What a strange gesture... She bends her knees a little, lifts her dress slightly and bows her head... It's probably some sort of courtesy.

"K-Konpaku Youmu..." Hm, that looked rather simple. I will give it a try as well. Judging by her modest smile I didn't do too bad, but not very good either... Why did I even do that? Now I probably embarrassed myself...

"I take it that you are the source of this incident. It took me a whole day to get here." Hm, that's probably a rather difficult journey for a human. She certainly isn't a normal human, otherwise she wouldn't even arrive here alive, much less have any fight left in herself.

"In coming here, you have exercised great composure. This is Hakugyokurou. The deceased live on in this place. Acting on the common sense of the living will land you in a mess." Considering this and her fighting abilities I have to show her respect, she deserves it.

"The dead are supposed to rest, not speak. Now return the spring you stole." I suppose it would look like that for someone from the outside. The wish of Yuyuko-sama is rather selfish from their perspective, but maybe I can convince her...

"Hold on a bit." She doesn't seem to be willing to listen to anything I have to say about this...

"That's a little bit too long." Still, I will try it.

"Soon, the Saigyou Ayakashi will reach full bloom. That could never happen with a normal spring." Now she seems to be openly annoyed...

"I said I don't care." She doesn't have to say it like that. Though that is probably true... She is still rather composed, despite her annoyance, and states it more matter-of-factly than anything else, with such cold, grey eyes...

"The trace of spring you brought here can bring the Saigyou Ayakashi to full bloom." But how should I drain that spring of hers? I don't exactly want to kill her, for some reason...

"Are you even listening to me? I've traveled through the cold only to find such a selfish idea." Hm, that's true, but... I still have to do it. No matter what, I have to fulfill Yuyuko-sama's wish.

"But it's warm here, isn't it?" Maybe we could just be here for a while, enjoying this scenery and the warmth of spring. That would be very nice... Wait, what am I even thinking!?

"That's enough already. Let us end this." Of course she wouldn't...

"Indeed. I will consume the warmth of your spring." She doesn't leave me with any other choice. I have to do it somehow. So do I have to kill her or is there another way...? I could probably extract it if she was unconscious, so I just have to knock her out.

"I wonder, can my knives even cut ghosts?" I think they can. At least myself, since only one half of me is a ghost to begin with. However, there is something I know for sure...

"The things which cannot be cut by my Roukan Blade, forged by youkai... Are close to none!" With this our battle begins... She is still not even trying to attack me back, just dodging and dodging... 'Sigh' This is so frustrating!

"Is that all you have to offer?" She is still so calm and almost monotone... I somewhat admire that, but at the same time it irritates me! She is somewhat unsettling, so calm in the middle of all those danmaku...

"Of course not. I'm only getting started." More and more and more danmaku, faster and faster and faster... Does none of this impress her at all!? Is she taunting me!?

"You are almost done, aren't you?" The worst about all these taunts she is uttering is that she is right... I am almost out of spell cards and she is still grazing the bullets as if it was nothing... I haven't even got one hit on her!

"Not yet. I will defeat you!" She may be superior to me, but I didn't lose yet! I saved my last spell card for the end, I will just use that now. She seems to be having more trouble dodging, but still, it's as if she could predict my every move...

...

I... lost. She didn't use her knives or anything else, she defeated me without even attacking me. What a disgrace, for myself, for my grandfather and for Yuyuko-sama... I can't just leave it at that! But what else can I do...?

"Wait, I can't let you through..." Just what should I do...? If I attack her yet again I would violate the spell card rules... Especially if I did kill her. The rules state that youkai aren't allowed to kill humans, but I have to do something...

"And what do you want to do to stop me?" She almost seems to be mocking me the way she says it, cold with a certain expectation in her voice. Is she trying to make me attack her? But she has to know these rules as well...

"I... I will..." What exactly will I do...?

"You have no chance against me without using your swords. No, even with you swords you couldn't stop me, Konpaku-san. You should just wait until this is over." Just like that she is flying towards Yuyuko-sama's location.

That last sentence was a challenge I can't turn down. I have to defend my honour as a swordswoman and a as descendant of the Konpaku family, I can't just let that rest. I will defeat her, no matter what. Even if I will become an outcast or die...

But I can't attack her from behind, I will have to warn her before I fight her again. With my speed it will pose no problem to catch up to her. This time I am serious, I will kill her, if I have to. For the honour of my family and for Yuyuko-sama...

It makes me feel somewhat sad, killing such a young human. She is also very strong and she seemed to be a little bit concerned about me, but...

Well, I can think about that once I have defeated her. For now I should focus on the goal ahead of myself, Izayoi Sakuya. Izayoi-san? Since she called me Konpaku-san? Not that it matters, I still have to take care of her.

Here I go! I come at her with all my speed, with my Hakurouken I aim for her right cheek while rushing by. It was a hit and she is bleeding a little bit, but she didn't even flinch in the moment where I cut her... She did notice it, so she can surpress her pain surprisingly well, for a human.

"This is... a challenge, correct?" Without paying much attention to the wound she takes out a white handkerchief and wipes the blood away, as if she was cleaning up spilled tea instead of blood... I am starting to doubt this was a good idea... But I can't take it back now!

"It is. In order to reclaim the honour of my family and to fulfill the wish of my mistress I will defeat you with these swords of mine!" She is still not very impressed, apparently, but this time she takes out her knives, one in each hand.

"Are you prepared to die? Are you prepared be hunted down by others for violating the laws?" I don't want to die. I don't want to be cast out. But I don't want to disappoint Yuyuko-sama or my grandfather. Wherever he may be, I'm sure he is watching over me, as he promised once.

"I am prepared for any consequences." She doesn't seem to be convinced, but she doesn't have much of a choice other than taking my challenge. If she doesn't defend herself I will kill her, even if I don't want to.

"Have you ever even killed someone?" What is she trying to accomplish by this? Is she trying to talk me out of it? I will not let her pass, no matter what.

"I haven't, but there's a first time for everything." She doesn't seem to be satisfied by this, but it doesn't matter what she wants. I have to do it...

"Are you prepared to take this life of mine? Take it, if you are." She isn't going to defend herself again? She just dropped her arms with the knives... I will force her to defend herself! I put Hakurouken back to the sheath and grip my Roukan Blade with both hand and a little bit tighter and try to cut through her stomach. There seems to be no resistance at all...

Did I just cut her in half? I... I didn't want that... I wanted to make her fight back, I didn't want to kill her... but it's too late for regret now, isn't it? I will just collect the remaining spring of hers and bring it to Yuyuko-sama... But there is a bitter aftertaste...

"I am sorry, Izayoi-san... I am sorry..." I can feel the tears burning in my eyes. She is still standing there. Her upper half will probably fall down any second now, just like the trees I cut down to get firewoods... Just like that...and I can't hold my tears back...

"Hmhm, did you think you could kill me just like that? If you are aiming for my life you have to try harder. You aren't prepared to kill someone, after all..." I will have to bury her la- What!? I quickly wipe away my tears. She is still standing there, in one piece... How is she still alive? Or is she... a ghost!? She sounds as if she was full of joy, but empty at the same time...

"You shouldn't be..." Her smile seems to be sadistic this time, not a hint of fear or the like...

"...alive? If you hadn't missed I would be breathing my last breath by now. But closing your eyes before the last strike... How cute, just like a child in a war." Is she still playing with me? I didn't feel contact, but I thought my Roukanken was just that sharp. How could she...

"But you couldn't get away from that attack! It was too fast, even for a human that is faster than the average ones!" Yet again she chuckles, not really amused, rather empty...

"If you expect me to be a human you are wrong. I may be a human, that is correct, but I am far from human. In terms of ability. Or morals, for that matter." I still have no clue how she could do that, but I underestimated her yet again. If I don't do something I might really die...

"I won't make that mistake again! Prepare yourself!" This time I will get her, no matter how fast she is. I quickly lunge out, but she is just as fast to parry both of my swords... I can't compare this to anything I ever experienced, but then again, I don't have much experience to begin with...

"You should know when to give up. Like this you could easily die. If you give up now I might even spare your life so that you can learn from your mistakes." Her eyes are so red... weren't they grey a minute ago?

"I can't give up! Even if I die... I can't give up!" How can she be this fast!? Now she is pushing me back with swift strikes I can barely parry. I have to get some distance, she has a clear advantage at this range, so I jump backwards. However...

"The distance won't help you. These are throwing knives, after all..." Yet again she sounds so apathetic, as if this didn't concern her at all. In the same moment a piercing pain shoots through my arms and legs...

"Argh! Damn you... Damn you!" She didn't hurt me that much, just some scratches, but it still hurts... If I don't kill her she might really kill me...

"Give it up, in the end you are just a child. You should be a good little girl and go to sleep now." Before I can even react she lands a strong punch in my stomach, with the handle of the knive in her right hand. The air is pressed out of my lungs...

"'Cough' 'Cough' Ne-... ver!" I have to kill her now! I pull myself together once more and strike at her with all my strength. She might be strong, but even she can't block such an attack with just her knives. They are whipped out of her hands, they fall to the ground with a metallic sound and I strike her with the handle of Roukanken.

Now she is the one on her knees... If I cut her neck now she won't be able to avoid the attack and she certainly wouldn't recover from such a blow. But she still doesn't seem to be very concerned. Does she have another trick up her sleeve? I won't give her the time she needs and aim for her neck.

...

"I have warned you more than enough times by now, haven't I?" This time I cut through something... a bunch of cards that seemed to have replaced Izayoi-san... and she is whispering this into my ear as I can feel cold metal against my throat...

"Will you... kill me now?" This is the only question running through my mind... There are so many things I still want to do... I want to spend more time with Yuyuko-sama... I want to take care of the garden and this place... I want to get to know that woman, for some reason...

"Who knows? It would make sure that you won't bother me again... But there are still so many things you have to do and learn before death, aren't there? Do not expect such mercy from anyone else. Or from me, if you attack me again..." It sounded almost gentle, but with a certain element of threat mixed in...

"Thank you, Sakuya-san..." So I will live... And my honour? I was pretty stupid for doing this. I was blind, wasn't I? Grandfather always taught me that there is more honour in admitting defeat if you lose than in denying it... How could I forget that...?

"Do not thank me ahead of time..." Suddenly my consciousness fades to white...

...

Sakuya's POV, after beating Youmu in danmaku

...

Maybe she will take my words to heart and not do something reckless. Then again, she seemed to be rather childish, didn't she? I will just have to hope that reason is stronger in her than stupidity...

Suddenly something very fast rushes past me. It is that child again... Didn't I warn her not to get in my way? Judging by the way she attacked me it was more of a challenge than anything else. Just a small scratch, but still the first wound I received in a while.

"This is... a challenge, isn't it?" I take out one of my handkerchiefs and wipe the blood away. Not very much, but she seems to be serious about this. Well, I am used to greater wounds and much more pain, this is not even worth mentioning in comparisson, so I rather focus on Konpaku-san.

"It is. In order to reclaim the honour of my family and to fulfill the wish of my mistress I will defeat you with these swords of mine!" Ah, so I hurt her honour. That would explain her behaviour. She doesn't seem to let this one go, does she? What a shame. I wonder how far she will go...?

"Are you prepared to die? Are you prepared be hunted down by others for violating the laws?" I doubt she would know how such a life feels, but the words still seem to hit her somewhere. She doesn't want to die or to be cast out. Well, who would want that...

"I am prepared for any consequences." Prepared for consequences she doesn't even know? It seems as if she's rather trying to convince herself than me.

"Have you ever even killed someone?" I would doubt it, at least it doesn't look that way. She wouldn't be so hesitant if she had any experience with it. Just like a child which is ordered to kill a rabbit in order to have something to eat. The first time is hard, the second time not so much, the third time is not hard at all...

"I haven't, but there's a first time for everything." Hm, so I was right. It seems as if she'd be prepared to follow through with her words, but if she actually did it she would probably regret it later. She might even cry. Well, we will see...

"Are you prepared to take this life of mine? Take it, if you are." I drop my arms and stand there, without any signs of resistance. Of course she doesn't know about my ability to stop time yet... She is very fast, but I can read her stance like a book. A fraction of a second before she rushes past me I stop time and avoid the attack without any trouble at all.

"I am sorry, Izayoi-san... I am sorry..." I am still standing here, but she doesn't seem to regard me as living any longer. She does indeed cry. For someone like me, someone she didn't even know. Well, I shouldn't play with her like that, it was pretty cruel.

"Hmhm, did you think you could kill me just like that? If you are aiming for my life you have to try harder. You aren't prepared to kill someone, after all..." There were stronger ones who tried to kill me. And ones who were prepared to kill me. She on the other hand...

"You shouldn't be..." Well, she looks at me as if I was a ghost... I suppose that is only natural after trying to cut someone in half, being sure you got her and then seeing her unharmed. I love those expressions, I missed them a lot over these past years in Gensokyo...

"...alive? If you hadn't missed I would be breathing my last breath by now. But closing your eyes before the last strike... How cute, just like a child in a war." She shouldn't attack someone like that if she is so unexperienced. She really might have died if she fought against a youkai this way.

"But you couldn't get away from that attack! It was too fast, even for a human that is faster than the average ones!" She is right about that, if I was a normal human I would be lying on the ground, bleeding out and die. However...

"If you expect me to be an ordinary human you are wrong. My body may be that a human, that is correct, yet I am far from human. In terms of ability. Or morals, for that matter." I have abandoned my humanity... or what was left of it... when I swore my loyality to my mistress.

"I won't make that mistake again! Prepare yourself!" 'Sigh' She just doesn't learn from her past mistakes, does she? Perhaps it would be better to end this now, for future references... No, I can pass my judgement once this fight is truly over.

Her attacks are fierce and fast, but if I manipulate time I can move much faster than she could in her dreams. Velocity is meassured by movement in proportion to time. If I stop time and move my speed is higher than the speed of light itself, which is the highest natural speed, according to the knowledge of Patchouli-sama, at least in theory...

"You should know when to give up. Like this you could easily die. If you give up now I might even spare your life so that you can learn from your mistakes." I would hope that she realises that I could end her life whenever I wish to, in this fight, now that the spell card rules are no longer in effect.

I would just have to stop time and cut through her throat or pierce her heart, she wouldn't even realise it until it would be too late, if she would realise it at all... But she doesn't know that yet, does she? I think I will be patient and spare her life. I donn't kill without orders or necessity, and it certainly isn't necessary. My orders... Well, I suppose my mistress will forgive me, even if this battle draws on for a while.

"I can't give up! Even if I die... I can't give up!" So persistent... I wish she would listen to reason already... Instead she attacks me yet again. But our positions change rather fast and now she is on the defensive. A jump backwards? Well, aren't you clever...

"The distance won't help you. These are throwing knives, after all..." She should have paid more attention when I was occupied with the ghosts. Doesn't she know the most basic rules of battle? Know your opponent and yourself. She seems to know neither... Well, my knives should teach her some manners. Her body should be able to bear with it, as long as I don't hit her organs or veins.

"Argh! Damn you... Damn you!" The realisation seems to get through to her, ever so slowly... I just hit her arms and legs, some small scratches, nothing serious.

"Give it up, in the end you are just a child. You should be a good little girl and go to sleep now." A swift strike to her stomach with the handle of my knive. I should have used more force, her body seems to be stronger than that of a regular human...

"'Cough' 'Cough' Ne-... ver!" So she surprised me a little after all. With a quick strike she disarmed me and used the moment to hit me with the handle of her sword. She doesn't seem to know how much force she should apply, does she? I am forced to my knees.

She should have gone for my neck before I caught my breath. This way I had more than enough time to think of a better plan than to simply stop time. I stop time, leave some cards in my place to confuse her and get behind her. Now she will see how easy one can die in a real battle.

"I have warned you more than enough times already, haven't I?" I put one of my knives to her throat and whisper that into her ear. She seems to tremble a little bit. Now she should realise what could really happen to her.

"Will you... kill me now?" Hm, she is almost cute when she is this resigned to her apparent end. I think this will be a good lesson for her. I will have her struggle for a little while longer and let her off the hook after that. I shouldn't go too far, after all...

"Who knows? It would make sure that you won't bother me again... But there are still so many things you have to do and learn before death, aren't there? Do not expect such mercy from anyone else. Or from me, if you attack me again..." I think I finally got through to her...

"Thank you, Sakuya-san..." Hm, a little bit too familiar for my taste, but I think I can disregard this for now.*¹ She just escaped death, though she was never in any real danger. Well, she doesn't have to know the last part, does she? However...

"Do not thank me ahead of time..." I strike her neck with the handle of my knive. This was sufficient force, she goes limp. Well, this should take care of her. Though I can't exactly leave her like this, can I?

'Sigh' I stop time and take out some of my handkerchiefs. I will clean her wounds, just in case. I pull up her sleeves and inspect the cuts at her arms and legs. Well, there isn't much to clean, so I just dress the cuts with handkerchiefs. Well, they are clean and I could probably use them for surgical operations, so it should prevent any infections.

I suppose I can just carry her with me, her mistress should take care of her. Great, a piggyback ride... Well, I don't want to leave her here, so there is no way around it, is there? Off we go...

...

Author's note: Well, first of all I will explain some things for people who may not be familiar with Touhou or Japanese customs.

Danmaku: What Touhou basically revolves around. You should look it up, the games are a lot of fun. Basically avoiding bullets while collecting power-ups and shooting enemies on the screen.

*¹-sama: A honorific that indicates respect for the adressed person.

*²-san: A honorific that is commonly used between two indiviuals who see each other as equals, can be both formal and informal.

*³: It isn't common to call someone who you don't know by their first name.

...

If there are other questions, just ask. The characters are not really in character, Sakuya for example is much colder in this fanfiction and Youmu is more childish. If you want to know more about the characters, just play the games or look them up on some wiki-page about Touhou.

Later on I will also write about Sakuya's past which will be quite bloody. Many of these details will not be compatible with canon, as well as other things I add. The next chapters will deviate from the original story lines of the games.


	2. Separate ways

Sakuya's POV, directly after the end of the last chapter

...

Well, I shouldn't leave her swords here either. I don't think she will recover too soon, so it should be fine to return them to her. I recover them from the ground and put them back into her sheathes. They really are of fine quality and probably mean a lot to her.

Well, here we go... I put her arms around my neck and her legs under my arms. She is surprisingly cold... then again, she is apparently only half a human. Her other half, or whatever this phantom is, dances around me excitedly, but it doesn't attack me. She is also rather light. Well, she is more than a head smaller than me, so that was to be expected.

I wouldn't attack an opponent that could kill me at any time either, if it can be helped, and I have her body. The phantom half would probably die as well if I killed her body, but I agreed to let her live. So I will just have to search for her mistress.

These ghosts don't stop bothering me either, despite the fact that I'm carrying Konpaku-san with me. Then again, they are no real challenge. Perhaps this mistress will just return the spring without further battles. One can always dream...

I am almost sure I'll have to fight her. Why can't we settle this with a cup of tea and a little discussion? I would certainly prefer that over more pointless danmaku combat. Or real combat, for that matter. I've had my fair share of such battles before I arrived here with my mistress...

That girl wasn't so bad, after all. If she wasn't so easy to read, that is. I probably wouldn't have had to stop time to defeat her, but this way I could examine how honest she was about killing me. Honest enough, I guess. But she lacks experience.

That was probably her first experience in a fight to the death. Well, it wasn't to the death, but she had sufficient reason to believe that. If I had been a youkai she would most likely be dead by now. Am I softening after all those years without a real fight?

But my mistress wouldn't want me to kill someone here, it would discredit her reputation. So I wouldn't kill anyone either way unless it was necessary. That is much more relaxing than a cycle of revenge and I don't have to win by any means. Not that I would slack off...

And there are no vampire hunters or religious fanatics in Gensokyo either. At least I didn't see any of those so far. They can be so very persistent, it's not even amusing after some time. They won't listen to any reason and most of them won't stop until they are dead...

Well, those are things of the past. I won't have to worry about these things, at least for now. Unless the spell card rules were to be repealed, in which case the Scarlet Devil Mansion could hold it's own just fine. My mistress, Patchouli-sama, Meiling and myself. And the younger sister of my mistress...

But that doesn't matter right now. I can already see a gigantic cherry tree in the distance. This one hasn't bloomed yet. I would assume that it is the Saigyou Ayakashi Konpaku-san was talking about. So her mistress should be close by...

"Step any further... And the young mistress will kill you before you know it!" She seems to have recovered her consciousness. Well, she is in no condition to fight. Her mistress might be strong, but I am sure I can hold my own against her. Though it shouldn't concern her either way.

"You should rest. Your wounds are taken care of. And I will take care of your mistress as well..." I hope she doesn't attack me again, especially not during my fight with her mistress. What am I even thinking, carrying an enemy on my back? She could use her swords to stab me in the back. I am getting soft...

"Uhm, why am I on your back?" I suppose that is a valid question. Well, she seems to follow some code of honour which prevents her from killing me while my back is turned to her, since she didn't use her chance to do so when she had it.

"I will carry you to your mistress. Maybe you would be a good hostage...?" I doubt it, and that isn't my manner. I did it before, but that was long ago, in a different world. It was just a little joke to lighten the atmosphere. Such things are part of my work as well, after all.

"You want to use me as a hostage? I would rather die than to be used against my mistress!" 'Sigh' She isn't exactly well-versed in irony, is she? I think most of the fairies back in the mansion would have understood this as a joke and they can be pretty dense at times.

"It was a humorous remark. I will take you to her, she can stop her incident and take care of you after that. Unless she would want to test my resolve in closing this incident first..." She most likely will do that, won't she? It will take even more time to end this if she does...

"But I tried to kill you..." Well, she did. But then again, many persons tried that over the the years. I can hardly hold a grudge against every single person who ever tried to kill me, I would be much too occupied to take care of the cleaning if I did...

"Well, our first meeting wasn't exactly pleasant, but that is a thing of the past. Who knows, we might even drink tea some day as if nothing had happened." Knowing my mistress that is not unlikely. The same happened with that witch and the shrine maiden, though they never had any intention to kill either of us...

"You are really odd..." I hear such things fairly often. You get used to it.

"What exactly is the purpose of your actions? Why do you want to unseal the Saigyou Ayakashi?" I have been wondering about that for a while. I doubt that it's worth risking your life for. Well, I have to prevent that either way. I can already see the cherry tree, it is quite large.

"My mistress wants to see the legendary blossoms of the Saigyou Ayakashi. They are said to be the most beautiful blossoms in the whole of Gensokyo. There is also a soul sealed with the Saigyou Ayakashi and my mistress wants to help said soul."

"A seal is usually serving a purpose... That cherry tree or the soul are most likely fairly dangerous. Why else would one seal something? Besides, is that worth your life...?" I don't think so, but she has to know what she does with her life.

"You can't understand this. My mistress has wished for this day for many, many years. It is her deathlong dream. Of course I would risk my life to fulfill it!" I suppose I can understand her reasons a little bit better now. If my mistress had such a dream and was about to fulfill it... no.

"I understand that perfectly. However, you wouldn't please your mistress by dying. At least not if she deserves any of your respect. Whenever you start such combat you should be aware of the consequences. Your next opponent might not be as merciful as I was..."

"..." Hm, this conversation is probably over. She should have enough to think about for now. What she does with that is up to her. It shouldn't bother me. Well, it does bother me somewhat, for some reason...

I will have time to worry about this once the matter at hand is dealt with. I can already see who I assume to be the mistress of Konpaku-san at the roots of this great tree. She is wearing a long white kimono with blue ribbons as decorations.

"Excuse me...?" I call out to her and she turns around. She is also wearing a white, triangular hat over her pink hair with the insignia of a red spirit on it, just like Konpaku-san's spirit half. If I am not mistaken those are typical for yūrei in Japanese folklore. And she is most likely a ghost herself.

"Yes? Oh, you must be the intruder. And you're carrying Youmu with you? Why is that~?" She somewhat irritates me, isn't she supposed to be angry or worried or something along those lines? Yet she smiles, without caring at all, or so it seems...

"Indeed, the intruder would be me, I suppose. I brought your servant with me because she is wounded and exhausted." She still doesn't seem to be too concerned about the entire situation... The small ghosts flying around her are also rather irritating...

"Thank you for retrieving her. Though I wonder, why is she hurt~?" 'Sigh' I don't really want to have that discussion right now, I would prefer it to end this incident, return to the Scarlet Devil Mansion and pretend most of this never even happened. I don't have much time to worry about other things than the household either way.

"Your servant asked for a serious fight and I answered accordingly. She tried to use lethal force, perhaps you should discipline her so she doesn't get herself killed. If she had done the same with a youkai and lost she wouldn't be alive right now." Now Konpaku-san seems to be embarrassed. Well, she should have thought about this before attacking me so recklessly.

"Is that true, Youmu? I told you not to do something like that..." Hm, her mistress seems to be worried about her, despite her apparently carefree attitude from before.

"I am sorry, Yuyuko-sama... I don't know what came over me. I shouldn't have done that..." Well, at least she seems to understand her mistake.

"That's right, Youmu. What should I do without you?" Somehow this doesn't seem to be the right thing to talk about in front of me. Well, there are some things I have to do yet and the small talk can wait until I am done here and away.

"Excuse me, but could we get to the matter at hand already?" If I stay here any longer than necesarry they might rub off on me...

"Why would we? The netherworld is always lively and gorgeous. Wouldn't you rather enjoy the scenery?" I would, if my mistress was here and did not want me to return the stolen spring. However, that is not the case.

"Isn't it gorgeous because you snatched spring away from Gensokyo?" I rather enjoy spring, though I prefer winter. Just not for longer than necessary.

"Oh my. You dislike spring?" What is her problem? She actually seems to believe that... Just how does one draw such a conclusion? She will probably strain my nerves even further...

"No, I am angry because I LIKE it. So why did you steal it?" How does Konpaku-san even keep up with that woman? I would resign after one day of work for her if she always was like this. Unless my mistress asked me to work for her, of course.

"I took all of the spring we could get, yet it was not enough. Soon, the last cherry blossom, the Saigyou Ayakashi will bloom. Then all will be answered." I am starting to believe she herself doesn't know what exactly she is doing here. Besides...

"That cherry tree... isn't it withering?" The wood looks almost dead and there is not a single leaf on the entire tree, let alone buds...

"It's on the verge of blooming. Youmu must have thought that the small trace of spring you carry would be enough." Now she is looking at me as if I would lack common sense... Well, I do not intend to give her that trace of spring.

"I don't care. It took me over a day to get here, it'll take another to get back. Let's end this." I don't think I would prefer a cup of tea with those two over having to fight her. If anything that would finally drive me insane...

"Well, I'll let you return to your home right away. You're not to come here yet, anyway." Just for what reason does she think I am here? Not for talking to that woman, that much is clear...

"I didn't come here just to be send back. Return Gensokyo's spring." If she just did that we could all be on our ways and would never have to see each other again...

"Oh, could it be that the cherry blossoms in your world have yet to bloom?" Doesn't she even realise what she is causing by stealing the spring...? I give it up...

"No cherry blossoms; not even the pheasant's eyes bloom." Why can't this end...?

"In that case, it'd be troublesome if you developed a heart disease." It doesn't concern me. If I do that's fine and my mistress doesn't have any heart problems either way.

"It's not. First of all, my mistress doesn't have a weak heart." Since her body works in different ways than humans there is nothing which could trouble me.

"That's too bad..." She is quite irritating... Well, I will just have to end this, after that I should not have to concern myself with her any longer. Konpaku-san was far more agreeable in comparisson. Come to think of her, she has been very quiet...

"You expected it? Well, alright. Enough talk about herbs. I'm eager to have some warmth. Return that warmth to us, now." It won't be quite this easy, will it?

"In a gathering of corpses there is beauty. The same is true for cherry blossoms and spring." There is a certain beauty in death, but not in corpses.

"First of all, corpses aren't beautiful." I have seen enough to know what I am talking about...

"I mean..." It doesn't matter what she means. I will just put Konpaku-san down next to a nearby cherry tree. She seems to have fallen asleep... Now I will just have to fight her mistress until she finally gives in. That should be the fastest way.

Hm, now that I think about sleep... I think I remember it know. Patchouli-sama was talking to my mistress about the Saigyou Ayakashi. It used to be the most beautiful cherry tree in all of Gensokyo. It had a very calming atmosphere and quite some people fell asleep under it and never woke up again. After a while the tree developed powers similiar to that of a youkai.

The tree grew very powerful over the years and devoured the life energy of many. At some point someone sealed it, using a human soul. The body of that person was buried under the Saigyou Ayakashi. And didn't Konpaku-san call her mistress Yuyuko? Yuyuko Saigyouji... I think that was the name of the sacrifice. That would mean...

"I will have my flowers, rotten princess!" She is the human soul used to seal the Saigyou Ayakashi. I do wonder why she would want to break the seal... Well, it doesn't matter. I can not let her do that. It would be weakened after all that time, so I might be able to defeat it if it was to be unsealed, but I do not wish to try my luck.

"I will loosen the seal, dog of the devil!" Apparently she knows about me as well. I would prefer a more graceful title, but I addressed her in a similar manner, so I can't exactly complain. 'Sigh' And the danmaku starts once more...

Her patterns are a rather complicated, compared to those of Konpaku-san. She could even keep pace with my mistress in terms of danmaku. And her abilities are quite fearful as well, according to what I have heard. The manipulation of death...

In a real fight I could probably never hope to defeat her. Perhaps I would be able to ward her off and achieve a temporary victory, but ghosts can't be killed. It would take a lot of power to exorcise a being as powerful as her and if she used her ability against me even once...

Well, I could probably retreat, since time is at my command, but... Well, if she wanted to kill me and could do it she would have done that already. So it is probably rather meant to entertain her, just as the incident with the fog my mistress caused.

My knives do seem to work on her, after all. Well, this fight is going according to the spell card rules. It probably wouldn't matter if one attacked a being immune to fire with danmaku made of fire as long as the spell card rules are in effect. The elegance and beauty is what matters, not force or logic.

Well, this is working to my advantage, since my skills are rather elegant and beautiful, if I may say so without being too immodest. The mistress of Konpaku-san is also very skilled at this, but I still seem to surpass her by a bit.

Spell card after spell card... How exciting... Even if I lose it would mean nothing, even if I win it would mean nothing... 'Sigh' I still have to carry out my orders, so I will win. That should be the best way to finish all of this quickly.

...

It seems as if I finally won. That woman was quite persistent and her spell cards were very strong, but I am used to such battles by now. The shrine maiden and the magician were at least as strong as she is. Though I was underestimating them back then...

Now this incident should be over and I can just return home. Hm, so much work to... wait. She seems to be recovering... I don't think I will like this... Another spell card? Well, one more time. Resurrection Butterfly – 80% Reflowering...

More lasers... more butterflies... more red orbs... This one seems to require a lot of precision... One small mistake and I would be hit. Well, that wouldn't really matter, I could effort it since I have collected more than enough resources to take a few hits.

My knives seem to have no effects on her now. Probably part of her spell card. It reminds me a little bit of the spell cards of the younger sister of my mistress, though I prefer this over playing with her by far. Playing with her can have some very unpleasant consequences, her playthings which I regulary have to replace can tell a thing or two about that...

Well, she isn't really able to control her power, so it is a very dangerous endeavour to play with her. One mistake on her side and I would have a lot of cleaning to do.

Finally this spell card is over, if those were 80% I don't think I'd want to see her using 100%... I managed to get through all of that without getting hit once... I think I have improved a lot. And now this incident should be over.

"Excuse me, but could you return the spring now?" Konpaku-san's mistress seems to be rather exhausted after all of this as well. I don't think she will cause any more trouble right now. Though I have the presentiment that we will meet again. Please, let me be wrong...

"You can have your spring back... We will return it. So I won't get to see the beautiful blossoms of the Saigyou Ayakashi and I won't get to know everything I wanted to..." She heaves a heavy sigh and slouches her shoulders. Well, this should be the conclusion of the incident.

"Then I will be on my way." If there was anyone else behind it the shrine maiden or someone else can take care of it, I did everything my mistress ordered me to do, so it is time to return home. I don't think I have to worry about this any longer, she seems to have accepted defeat. Finally...

...

Youmu's POV, after the danmaku duel

...

Uh... Where am I? What was I doing...? Hm, the last thing I remember was something very warm and comfortable... Hm, I was collecting spring for Yuyuko-sama, then I was attacked by that woman, Izayoi-san. I tried to kill her... she defeated me and knocked me out.

After that she took care of my cuts and carried me along... So that would be the warm sensation I remembered first... warm and comfortable... I have to focus on other things right now. I warned her, but she still kept moving... Yuyuko-sama scolded me...

And after that... I must have fallen asleep... So Izayoi-san might be dead... It was Yuyuko-sama's deathlong dream, after all, so she probably killed her and the Saigyou Ayakashi still doesn't blossom...

"Youmu, I'm hungry~"

"Kyaah!" A ghost! A ghost got my shoulder! Through the tree! ...wait, this is just Yuyuko-sama... She seems to love nothing more than scaring me... and I always seem to fall for it...

"Youmu, you should make something to eat~ Hurry up, food~" 'Sigh' Is that all she ever thinks about? Why, yes. That's almost everything. Unless she thinks about the Saigyou Ayakashi or who is buried beneath it.

"I just woke up, Yuyuko-sama... So, what exactly happened?" It's already dusk and when I fell asleep it was... late afternoon, I think. So quite some time has passed... I am a little bit anxious to hear it, Izayoi-san was very cold towards me, but she still spared me from death...

"Hm, I lost to that maid and told her we'd return the spring. Then she left in a hurry. That was probably everything. And now I'm hungry..." Now she's trying to look pitiful... Well, I will have to make some food for her, otherwise she will nag me about it until I give in... Hm, come to think of it, there are no cherry blossoms any longer. Yuyuko-sama must have released the spring.

"But wasn't it really important for you to unseal the Saigyou Ayakashi? You were always talking about how much you wanted to do that..." Well, whenever she wasn't talking about food, that is...

"Hm, I do want to know that, but now that I think about it, it might be a little bit selfish to take away the spring from Gensokyo... Well maybe some other day." And for this I risked my life!? She didn't ask me to do anything like that, but still...

"Let's just go to the kitchen..." 'Sigh' I should've known this... it really was stupid to challenge Izyoi-san like that... Izayoi Sakuya... I wonder what she is doing right now... She's probably on her way to her homehome and contemplating how much time we cost her... Well, I should rather prepare dinner, Yuyuko-sama can be very uneasy when she's hungry...

What should I make for today? Rice, salad, fried meat and tea thereto? We almost have no meat left. If we did run out of it Yuyuko-sama would not be too pleased... I will have to go to the human village to buy new meat. Does Izayoi-san live there...? Come to think of it...

"Yuyuko-sama, do you know Izayoi-san?" Yuyuko might now more about her, since she has some more contact with the rest of Gensokyo than me. She has a lot of contact with Yukari-sama and she knows about most important persons in Gensokyo. I always rather stay away from them since Yuyuko-sama and Yukari-sama tend to drink a lot when they're together...

"Hm? Oh, you mean the maid? She's the head maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, or the dog of Remilia Scarlet, whatever you prefer. She can manipulate time. Even Yukari doesn't know much more about her." Hm, so she manipulated time to escape death and to defeat me... And even Yukari-sama doesn't know much about her? That's rather unusual. Hm, the Scarlet Devil Mansion... It isn't too far away from the human village, if the map we have is accurate...

"Yuyuko-sama...?" Since I am preparing dinner right now she should be in a rather good mood...

"What is it, Youmu~?" She sure seems to be happy. Now would probably be the best time to ask her, if I do want to go there...

"This is a rather sudden request, but could we visit the Scarlet Devil Mansion...?" Yuyuko-sama seems to be pretty quiet all of a sudden...

"Hm, why do you want to go there?" That's a rather good question...

"Hm, Izayoi-san bandaged my cuts with her handkerchiefs. They are made of some expensive-looking cloth, so she would probably want them back. And I would like to train with her." I am too weak, I can't protect Yuyuko-sama in an emergency if I am so weak...

"Don't tell me, has my little Youmu grown up? Are you in love~?" Why does she always tease me like this? I am somewhat fascinated by Izayoi-san, but it's rather because of her mysterious nature and her power. I wouldn't call that love...

"No, Yuyuko-sama... and please don't come so close, otherwise I will need more time to make your food." That's always an effective threat...

"Alright, we can go... For how long do you want to go there?" Hm, this is all pretty sudden... I didn't really expect Yuyuko-sama to just tag along... Well, it can get rather boring here, especially now that there are no cherry blossoms...

"Hm, I don't know how long they would take us in... if they take us in, that is. I would like to stay there for a while, if possible." Hm, that was a lot easier than expected... so I might get to train with Izayoi-san, just like that. But I shouldn't get my hopes up just yet, they might just send us away...

"I wonder what kinds of food they serve there~ And if they don't take us in we can just ask Yukari, she'll be somewhere." So this is what she was actually having in mind... what food they serve there... probably.

"You will get your food in a few minutes, so you shouldn't worry about what they might serve there..." If she wasn't a ghost she wouldn't fit in this house any longer... Well, the rice is boiling, the meat is frying, tea and salad are already ready. I wasn't paying attention to it at all, but it still came out fine. Well, it's my routine, after all.

So we might stay there for a while... Hm, I will need some changes of clothes, my swords, some money... Anything else? I have to wash the handkerchiefs. The cuts are already healed, but the handkerchiefs are blood-soaked...

I put them into a sink and let some water flow in. Now I'll just wring them out again and again. Tomorrow they should be clean again, more or less...

"Youuumuuu~" 'Sigh' I wring them out one last time, hang them over a clothesline and let the water drain. I would take any bet that this is about Yuyuko-sama being hungry... Hm, dinner should be ready by now.

"Don't worry, dinner is ready, Yuyuko-sama." Yes, the meat is ready as well. I carry it over to the dining room and give Yuyuko-sama her portion. A full plate, though she'll probably want more... I take a rather modest portion, in comparisson.

"Youmu..." Hm, she should be satisfied with this...

"What is it, Yuyuko-sama?"

"Don't become unfaithful to me." 'Sigh' So she does think I'm in love with Izayoi-san? Or is she just teasing me? I can't tell by her expression, it's like a poker face. Either way...

"Yuyuko-sama, we aren't married. I couldn't be unfaithful to you, even if I wanted to." Now she is pouting, as she always does. I guess she was trying to tease me and wasn't very pleased with my reply...

"That was mean, Youmu... You told me that you would marry me someday when you were younger, you know...?" I guess every child says something like that to someone without understanding what it actually means.

"I was probably very young and it wasn't even a promise, was it?" She often tries to tease me with this, so I got over it eventually. Though she still scares me whenever she imitates a ghost...

"So mean... Well, that's alright. I just don't want you to have too much contact with that maid, I don't think she would have a positive effect on you." Hm, she is pretty cold, but I don't think she is a bad person. She seemed very cold, but she was actually pretty nice...

"Don't worry, Yuyuko-sama. It's not as if I was going to propose to her or something..." Hm, she seems to be satisfied with this reply, more or less. Even though I am used to seeing this I am still amazed by how fast Yuyuko-sama can eat...

Just then the door to the outside was ripped apart! Could it be... a ghost!?

"Hey, you were responsible for this incident, weren't you?" No, it's a blonde magician with long hairs who is speaking to us. She wears a black and white dress and a big black hat. And a shrine maiden with brown-black hairs who tore down the door... I quickly get my swords and prepare to attack them.

"Yes, that was us. But the incident is over, isn't it? So could you let us eat dinner in peace?" Yuyuko-sama doesn't seem to be concerned about this in the least... Well, since they are no ghosts there is no reason to be scared of them, since they aren't ghosts...

"And who was responsible for weakening the border between the netherworld and Gensokyo?" That was the shrine maiden. She seems to be rather threatening, but her anger is nothing when compared to Izayoi-san's cold serenity, in my opinion...

"That was Yukari. Could you leave us alone now?" They don't seem to be very pleased with this, but they seem to accept it.

"Tch, so Sakuya-san was right about defeating that half-ghost and her mistress and stopping the incident. I had hoped for more of a fight..." So they met Izayoi-san on the way back? They seem to be on rather good terms, considering that magician just called her by her first name...

"And where can we find this Yukari?"

"Hm, she usually finds you. If she wants you to find her you'll probably meet her. She lives on the border of Gensokyo, I think. Good luck finding her..." Finding Yukari-sama can be a very troubling task, you never know where she is at what time...

"Well, we probably won't get our fight here, Reimu. Let's get going." Hm, they seem to leave on their own.

"Yes, there is no further business with these two." They do leave, just like that. Well I didn't need my swords, after all. Though slashing them would have solved the problem... Well, not slashing them in that sense, just... slashing them in danmaku.

After that we quietly continued with dinner and I soon retired to my room to pack my things. I'll carry my swords with me, I still need clothes, my hygienic utensils... And probably some other things I will think of later.

It was quite an exhausting day, so I think I will rather sleep for a while and pack up the rest tomorrow. Hm, so Izayoi-san can manipulate time. That actually explains a lot of things I couldn't explain to myself earlier. For example how she avoided being killed by me twice.

She wasn't even concerned about it. I'm not even sure if she wasn't concerned about me because she didn't think I would be able to kill her or because she isn't afraid of death in general. Yuyuko-sama told me that most humans are afraid of death, so it's probably the former...

Well, there should be more than enough time to think about such things on the trip we have ahead of us when we travel to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. For now I should just sleep...

...

Sakuya's POV, somewhere in the Forest of Magic

...

'Sigh' Still a long way ahead of me. I collected some of the spirits from the netherworld for my lady, as well as some earth. I think Patchouli-sama could make a quite elaborate gift out of these things, so my mistress may have a little bit of compensation for my abscence.

I on the other hand will have to do the clean-up... One of the downsides of an ancient mansion, almost as great as a castle, is the cleaning and the restauration. So much space to cover, one would need many servants for the cleaning alone.

However, I am not any servant. I am the "perfect" maid, as they like to call me. Hm, to think they would call me perfect is quite amusing, considering by what names I was called before I came to Gensokyo... Well, that was a long time ago and doesn't concern me any longer.

This whole incident was a waste of time... I should have left this to the shrine maiden and the magician, or someone else perhaps. But I was somewhat curious and the orders of my mistress are absolute for me, after all.

Well, it was somewhat entertaining to fight against Konpaku-san and her mistress. They were not bad, they might have defeated me if I had been careless. But I am not careless anymore. Looking back I am surprised I even lived long enough to learn these lessons...

Maybe Konpaku-san learned her lesson today. That would be a surprise, few persons learn fast, but then again drastic methods often show more results than gentle ones. Not that I would know much about gentle methods.

She did remind me of someone. That someone was probably... myself, when I was still young. Ah, to be young again... and gullible... A world where honour and the like are values? Definitely not the world I was raised in. Maybe that's for the best...

If I hadn't learned these lessons the hard way I wouldn't have lived for very long. I was always different and I had to learn to live accordingly. The human mind is such a simple thing, what is alike is a friend, what is different is an enemy. How dull most humans are...

Was I the same way, once? I can't imagine it, since there was never anyone who was like me, for as long as I can remember. Maybe I was meant to be alone. Maybe that was for the best. I prefer it to serve someone who those fools call the devil over being one of them under any circumstances.

Of course such a decision comes at a high price, but I was more than willing to pay said price at that point. I gave up my so-called humanity long before I even met my mistress. Though I still seem to have some remnants of it left, since I showed mercy without need for it.

She would have killed me, had I not stopped time and evaded her attacks. Yet she has cried for me. More than anyone else ever did for me. Well, that's probably not true, but it's hard to remember anything that was pleasant when there was so much more that wasn't.

How can you set apart genuine feelings from simple deceit if there was so much deceit? Well, not that it matters. This world seems to be different, but that might just be temporary. I have to be prepared for everything.

Maybe death wouldn't be such a bad alternative, after all. But I will serve my mistress until that time comes. That way I have a purpose, even a home. And some sorts of friends, though they are quite odd to begin with.

Hm, there is Patchouli-sama, it's always interesting to talk with her. She knows a lot about both magic and science, much more than what I'd care to learn. But a lot of her knowledge is rather useless, something you couldn't say about mine.

Then there is Meiling, she might slack off too much for my liking, but she is good at whatever she does, as long as she doesn't sleep. Even I can't stand up to her in a fight limited to the hands, and that does mean something. Combat is the one thing I am good with, that and cleaning.

I guess I could consider the fairies my friends as well, I know every one of them personally and can tell them apart without much of a problem. They take care of what they need and help a little bit in the household, though they can't be much of a help, even if they want to help me.

Of course there is always my mistress. I would do almost everything for her and she would do almost everything for me. Very peculiar, how I came into such a trusting relationship with a vampire without having faith in anything or anyone else...

A little bit of time to let my mind wander is also quite refreshing, every once in a while. Though I got off track, didn't I? What was I thinking about to begin with? Konpaku Youmu, that was it. Well, I don't really care if she learned anything or if she will get herself killed.

Why should I worry about her? Just because we have some similarities? Just because she reminds me of my past self? 'Sigh' Yet I did worry about her, a little bit. I shouldn't, but I did. Well, there is no harm in doing that, if it doesn't prevent me from doing what's necessary, should it ever come to a deadly serious situation.

I have done what I had to do to persons closer to me than her, so that should be nothing to worry about. Her trying to kill me is nothing too serious to begin with. And I could have killed her, if I had wanted to or if I was forced to.

Well, so much for the Forest of Magic. Roughly two-thirds of the way are behind me now. At least the fairies and other things didn't attack me again, I guess they are still resting. Or they think it would be pointless to attack me again.

Whatever the case might be, I won't complain. It is quite refreshing, seeing the wind blowing through the trees and grasses on the plains between the Forest of Magic and my home. The moon isn't full, but it's still a wonderful sight.

The moon seems to be the same, no matter where I end up. I guess that is somewhat comforting. It was there long before I was born and it will be there long after my death. Thinking of my death also offers me a little bit of comfort, I might be able to forget all of my past once I die.

Hm, to think of my own death as comfortable... I must be rather strange, for a human. My life was nowhere near eternal, yet I already wish for death. Well, I don't really wish for it, but it would be a welcome change. What could hell offer me that life hasn't given me already? Heh...

To think that some humans wish for eternal life. They probably don't have any idea of true pain, do they? Well, humans often wish for ridiculous things. How can one wish for more than enough to eat, enough to drink and a pleasant place to live at?

I suppose they couldn't learn it. The rich ones are raised to compile even more worseless treasures and the poor ones are raised to envy the rich ones. No-one is satisfied with what he or she has. Well, some are, but those are the minority.

Humans will never learn, will they? Give them a little bit of power and they will ask for more and more and more, no matter how much you give them. Now I have wealth and everything I could ever ask for and I don't really use it, despite desiring it so much once.

I suppose that's the way human desires work. Seemingly important, yet utter nonsense. A castle and a prince on a white horse? Don't make me laugh. There is only one person who can save you from anything, and that person is yourself.

Everyone else will turn their back on you or die, if you live long enough. Yet humans aren't strong enough to live on their own, they make their weakness to their strength by forming groups. How very foolish. Well, who am I to judge those humans, since I am not human any longer?

Hm, the Scarlet Devil Mansion isn't far away from here, I'm almost there.

...

Author's note: Well, here is another chapter. I was wondering whether I should keep on writing events both characters experienced from both their perspectives, as I did it in the first chapter, or should I rather do it as I did it here? Well, the choice is yours, I guess. Writing from both perspectives can be annoying for some people, but I guess they could just skip a certain perspective, if they wanted to. Well, as I said, your choice, dear readers.


	3. Home, Sweet Home

Sakuya's POV, arriving at the Scarlet Devil Mansion

…

The Scarlet Devil Mansion… My home. On a great ridge towering above the landscape it stands. Now that the spring will return the roses should blossom soon. The whole mansion appears to be out of place here, it just doesn't fit in…

Well, my mistress doesn't leave too often and she doesn't seem to care about it in the least, so there is nothing to be done about it. We do not have many visitors either way, but I still have to faithfully complete my tasks here.

This whole mansion would have crumbled away around my mistress a long time ago if I hadn't been there to clean it up and hire some humans to renovate the building. Of course the humans didn't know for whom they were really working because my mistress was on an "excursion" at that time and the other servants went with her.

Well, that was all a lie but there was no other way. I was the only servant at that time and it was much harder for me because I was not as gifted at manipulating time as I am now. Though it was more than enough to ward off any craftsman who looked for a kind of reward that was different from money…

Well, the mansion still stands and my mistress is happy, so it was worth it.

Not that we would need the mansion anymore, it's just my mistress, her younger sister, Patchouli-sama, Meiling, the fairies and myself. But without the mansion there wouldn't be enough space for the library and the belongings of my mistress…

Well, right now I have to worry about cleaning those belongings up. I can already see the gate and the walls. Not that they would keep most of the intruders out since those we have to worry about can fly…

And now that I come to think about useless defences… our "guard" is sitting on her chair and doesn't even notice me… I land right in front of her and call her.

"Meiling…" No reaction at all. I do hope that she is not sleeping… for her sake. Well, she does serve as a very good target this way. And practise never hurts… well, not me, I can't speak for Meiling…

A few steps backwards, knife in hand… I don't have to take my time to aim because throwing knives is my second nature, but I have to be careful, I don't want her to lose an eye. She would be even less effective that way…

And… I hit her forehead, just as planned. The first time I did it was by accident, but it doesn't seem to hurt her very much. If she was a human that might be dangerous, but youkai seem to be much more durable than humans. Well, most of them…

"Ouch! Who the hell did…" Only now does she seem to realise who is standing in front of her… her employer and the person who decides if she can stay in this place… "Sakuya! I… I wasn't slacking off! I was just…" I cut her off by pulling the knife out of her forehead in a swift motion. Just a scratch, as always…

"Sleeping? That you were. Your shift is not over yet. I will not tolerate such behaviour, not even during my absence… especially during my absence." Well, she will do it again, but I still have to lecture her from time to time.

"I'm sorry… I will be extra careful from now on!" Well, that is true, for a few days she will do her job… after that time she will slack off again… "And what happened to your cheek?" I almost forgot about that…

"Nothing, just a case of negligence…" That was exactly what happened. I shouldn't have been so careless. Never leave enemies facing your back… "Unlike some other persons I have duties to attend to. If you would excuse me…"

"Of course… I'm sorry…" Well, she probably can't help it. I would guard the gate myself during the daytime, but I have to clean up the mansion during that time period, prepare dinner for my mistress and I need a little bit of rest as well.

Meiling certainly doesn't seem to be the ideal choice for this post, but she can be very good at her tasks. She is rather strong and reliable, though I hope that she will become more reliable. We need a guard during the daytime, she can do whatever she wants to at night.

Is it too much to ask for? A little bit devotion for your duty? 'Sigh' Well, I suppose I have sufficient devotion for both of us. Even if we have to fight to survive, I am prepared for everything… Am I just paranoid…?

I have learned to live this way, it was necessary to survive. People give you their hand while hiding a knife in their other hand. I don't trust this peace. And if it doesn't persist I am prepared. My old equipment is still ready and thirsty for blood…

I should rather focus on my duty. I left those days behind when I arrived here, didn't I? That's what my mistress told me. "A world where we can live in peace." "A world without persecution." A nice dream, but I am not convinced yet.

I shall ring the bells in one hour. Until then I have to clean up the mansion. I don't think I can do it all in such a short time period, but I have to try it. I will start with the areas my mistress usually visits. I should start with the hallways around her room.

My mistress is living in the centre of this mansion, the second floor. One floor above it and one below it. And there is the basement with the library. And the maze I designed to keep the younger sister of the mistress concealed…

I feel a little bit sorry for her, but it is for her own good as well. She isn't very stable and if she destroys something… or someone… by accident that would mean trouble. I certainly do not wish to play with her, I saw what happened to some of her other playmates…

Though she seems to get along with the shrine maiden and the magician. Well, they do it at their own risk. But guess who will have to clean up if something goes wrong… I suppose I am just a little bit too pessimistic.

Back to the cleaning. There is so much dust… all of this after two days of absence… I also have to deliver the souvenirs I brought with me to Patchouli-sama. She will probably want to hear about my excursion as well, once the night is over.

I have so little time tonight… I will just have to take more time. That may be rather exhausting, but I have no other choice. I barely slept at all since I departed from the mansion… Well, such is the life of a maid. My life as a maid.

I should deliver the souvenirs to Patchouli-sama first. If she can do something with them she will need time. To the library…

…

"Please excuse the intrusion, Patchouli-sama." She doesn't really like anything that interferes with her researches, unless she deems it to be worthy of her attention. I do not wish to upset her, she is a valued friend of my mistress…

"Sakuya… What is it?" She slowly looks up from her books. She seems to be in a good mood and rather healthy today, so that is a good start…

"As you might now I have been out to solve the most recent incident. I was successful and brought you some things to research, if you would like them. And could you make something for my mistress with these things?"

"Let me see what you have here…" I lay down the small bag with earth on her table, as well as the provisional confinements of the spirits. "Hm, I think I can do something with these things. Just give me half an hour…"

"Thank you very much, Patchouli-sama. I thought you might be able to make a miniature model of the Netherworld, with cherry trees. If you would excuse me now…" I quickly drop a curtsey and turn around already. I have no time…

"Cherry trees? Hm, maybe… Will you tell me something about your journey later?" I was already expecting such a question. Whenever my mistress or Patchouli-sama send me out to do something Patchouli-sama is interested in it. Well, not for long, but still…

"Of course, Patchouli-sama. By morning I should be able to visit you again and tell you about it." No further words are exchanged, Patchouli-sama is absorbed in her books once more. Patchouli-sama's knowledge never ceases to amaze me…

She just looked at the things I brought her and she already seemed to know exactly what it was and how she could use it. Not all of that knowledge is useful, in my opinion, but it is useful to have someone who holds half the library in her head around.

Now I can clean up the mansion…

…

I can barely believe it myself, I somehow did all that was necessary in four hours. That is quite an accomplishment, in my opinion. The floors are clean enough to eat from them and there is almost no dust to be found.

The spiders can keep their webs, I just clean away the ones that aren't used any longer or those in inconvenient locations. They are quite useful, they take care of the insects. And my mistress likes them, so they can stay. It does give this place a certain atmosphere…

One thing about Gensokyo makes the cleaning much easier. I can fly. Probably because there is much more magic when compared to the outside world. Well, humans are to blame for that, as well as most of the other problems there.

Here only one hour has passed, but it was four hours of intensive work for me. I wish I could sleep, but I have to take care of my mistress for the entire night. I am to wake her up around midnight and afterwards I serve her for the remainder of the night.

It will be midnight in a few seconds and I still have to ring the bells… Well, that is no problem. I just have to fly up there. The night is still rather cold, but it is quite refreshing. The clock tower, my home.

Well, more or less. This is a good position, I can overlook the complete terrain of the mansion, the garden full of roses, the inner courtyard, the connections between the buildings and the gate. A very convenient location for a watchdog…

Now for the bells… It is not really necessary, but I rather ring the bells myself. I could make a mechanism that would do it for me, but it is a tradition, so to speak. It is also a preannouncement for my arrival, my mistress prefers it this way.

She is awake before that time, but she also enjoys some private time to think about things. Despite her seemingly childish state of mind she is as deep as the ocean. Though she gets bored quite often and requests strange things…

Well, it is not my place to judge the actions of my mistress. I never did so and I shall never do so. She is more than meets the eye. And I am her faithful servant, if nothing else. I have played on the stage of the world, but that was futile.

Why do humans always wish for something better than what they have? Why do humans give up so much to become things they were never meant to be? They try to maintain things by breaking them. It is so very ironic…

I was once no different, I think. I don't really think back to my times as a human, that is a time I would rather forget. And what am I now? I don't even know that. Through time I broke all of my chains but one. Fate…

Well, my mistress broke that chain for me and now I wear new ones by choice. Perhaps I wasn't ready at that time. True freedom is something horrible, after all. And so tempting… No morals binding you, no chains holding you… 'knock, knock'

"Good evening, my mistress. Is everything as you want it to be?" If I can read her face without misunderstanding it she is not very pleased…

"Sakuya, what took you so long? You were supposed to arrive here yesterday. And the fairies are horrible at preparing tea when compared to you…" The fairies are not very reliable for such tasks. Shouldn't Meiling have done that?

"I beg for your forgiveness, my mistress. The way was far longer than I had thought and I had to play with some rather strong and persistent adversaries." I kneel down before her and lower my head. I will probably receive a punishment of some sorts…

"So it's only partially your fault. Well, I feel rather merciful today, so if you brought along a nice present instead I may overlook your mistakes." That is rather unusual, but I am not going to ask for punishment.

"I thank you most sincerely, my mistress. I am sure that the present will be ready soon enough. For now you would like some tea, I assume?" Now that I think of tea, we are running low on blood. I will have to visit the human village soon…

"Yeah, thanks. I wonder what you brought me." The humans don't realise it when I drain a little bit of blood from them and there are plenty humans, so I don't bother anyone. My mistress prefers blood from one person, but I can't do that every time. Unless I am fortunate and some sort of accident happens…

"That is a secret, my mistress. You wouldn't want to spoil the surprise, would you?" She doesn't exactly like being kept in the dark, but she does like surprises. Unless they are unpleasant, of course…

"Where would you like to have your tea, my mistress?" There are many nice places for tea in this mansion, one of the rooms, the hallways, the balconies… Well, it is all rather dark inside, but that is a strategical advantage for my mistress. Besides, it is rather beautiful.

"I think I will drink tea on the balcony. It's probably rather cold, but I don't mind. It is a beautiful night…" That is my cue. I will have to stop time again and make tea. The kitchen is not too far away, so it isn't very difficult.

I quickly put the kettle on and get some of my supplies of blood. They are stored with special magical stones which emit coldness. This way the blood stays as such and doesn't congeal or dry up. The stones have no other use unless Patchouli-sama needs them, so I am free to use them. It doesn't damage them either.

Herbs into the teapot, after them the now boiling water. Now I have to leave it to draw for a little while. I wonder if my mistress will enjoy today's flavour…? Time is still stopped for now, but I can work with more than one time zone at once, so to speak.

At first I thought this could lead to severe damage of reality since it might distort time and space, but apparently it doesn't. That is very fortunate, otherwise I couldn't prepare tea this way. I am so tired…

No time to sleep for now. The tea is ready, now for the most important ingredient. The blood. If I boiled it instead of the water it would just dry up and I would have quite a mess to clean up, so this mixture with water is necessary.

Well, my mistress says she still enjoys it. I just have to pour in a little bit of blood, just something equal to a cup of it. This way my mistress has a lot to drink and I don't have to collect too much blood, that would attract unwanted attention.

No-one would suspect anything with some more cuts than usual during my visits, it is quite normal for humans to cut themselves by accident. Even a blade of grass can do what I do with my knives. I stop time while doing it, so no-one could prove anything.

Well, the tea is ready. Now I have to hurry back to my mistress with the tea set. When I started working for my mistress I had trouble balancing such things, but now I can do it while being half asleep…

…

"My mistress, here is your tea." She isn't bothered by my sudden appearance at all. She is used to it. Anyone else is usually startled by this, so I usually knock at the door or something else when guests are there. But there is no need for such things between us…

"Good. Hm, it isn't as good as last time. You should try something else next time." My mistress is quite delicate when it comes to her tea. At first it caused me much grieve, but now it is a good way to entertain myself. Developing new teas for my mistress.

"My apologies, I was in a bit of a hurry. I am quite tired, so I would like to excuse myself for any unusual or objectionable mistakes on my part." Not that my mistress would take heed of such excuses. It is a mere formality to do that, it doesn't excuse my mistakes.

"It's fine. Geez, you don't have to be so formal around me all of the time, you know? It's entertaining sometimes, but it can really annoy me…" My mistress often tries to persuade me to be more informal with her, but I can't seem to help it…

"Please excuse my formal behaviour, I am just too used to it to stop it." I tried, but it only lasted for a few weeks at best. Maybe I am a little bit too "perfect and elegant" for my own good. I trust my mistress, but the years of addressing her in such ways take their toll…

"You did it yet again… Even if I punish you for it you won't ever change, will you? You know what? I'll give it up…" …for a few weeks. Then she will try it again. And I will fail her again. Almost like an infinite loop…

"Perhaps the present could serve to improve your mood? I think Patchouli-sama should be done with it by now." I am sure she will be happy about it, no matter what Patchouli-sama made. She is quite skilled at such tasks…

"I want to go out tomorrow, the cherry blossoms are almost blossoming!" Hm, I will have to go to the human village, but I will need some sleep before that. My body is still very human, after all. Besides…

"The weather will be sunny tomorrow so we should probably stay inside. But I think our present will be enough for now, my mistress." If Patchouli-sama was able to do what I wanted her to this present should be a good substitute for real cherry blossoms.

"That's enough of your secretiveness! Show it to me already!" My young mistress, ever so impatient… Well, I don't think I can call her young, but she prefers it to be addressed as such. I can hardly say my old mistress, can I?

"Please be patient for a little while longer. We will have to go to the library, Patchouli-sama is probably expecting us." Thus I lead my eager mistress into the basement where the library is located…

…

"Wow, this is amazing…" Now she does look just like a little child upon receiving a present. Her childhood was stolen from her when she was still young, but I suppose all of us can be like children in Gensokyo, perhaps even I, one day…

"It is, isn't it? That is a miniature model of the Netherworld." It is quite accurate, Patchouli-sama must have had a book with a picture of it or something else to make something this precise. There are even small cherry blossoms floating in the glass dome…

"Just what I would expect from my skilful servant. You excelled yourself with this, Sakuya." I would say that I accomplished my mission, my mistress is pleased and I will (probably) be able to get some rest ones my mistress has had enough of me.

"You flatter me too much, my mistress. This is not my work, most of it was done by Patchouli-sama. I merely collected the ingredients…" I am rather surprised by the results as well, Patchouli-sama is certainly a great craftswoman…

"Those ingredients were fairly hard to obtain, so we did more or less equal amounts of work. Without the ghosts and the soil from the Netherworld I couldn't have done this." Hm, it has been a long time since the last time I bound ghosts…

"Good work, Patchy. And what about the cherry blossoms? Are they real cherry blossoms? And what do cherry blossoms have to do with the Netherworld?" So many questions and all at once… my mistress certainly is excited by this present…

"Calm down, Remmy. The cherry trees and the cherry blossoms are made of the soil of the Netherworld. Those ghosts are real as well, compromised to one tenth of their original size. And the other question… I think you should rather ask Sakuya about that."

"Sakuya? What do you know about the Netherworld? Where you ever there?" I was expecting things to go like this, so I waited with the tales of my little excursion until everyone was assembled. Well, everyone of importance…

"I was there quite recently, my mistress. The mistress of that place and her gardener were responsible for the recent incident. Because of your orders I travelled through Gensokyo in order to find the culprits."

"Get to the point already…" I would prefer that as well, the sooner the interesting topics run out the sooner I can go to sleep… Of course I wouldn't want to be an inconvenience for my mistress with my selfish desires, so I just go on.

"They were collecting spring to make the Saigyou Ayakashi blossom, I seem to remember that you were talking about that with Patchouli-sama." Though I don't remember the exact details of the conversation…

"You're right, I was actually planning to make it blossom, but Patchy said it might be a bad idea. Well, good thing you prevented that, I guess." So my mistress has already come up with other strange plans…

"Yes, it would probably be very dangerous, at least for humans and other mortal beings. Though I don't know if it would affect you, my mistress.. Well, regardless of that I had to fight the gardener. She was rather strong, but she didn't stand a ghost of a chance against me."

"Hm, why is there a cut on your cheek? That wouldn't happen during a normal danmaku fight, would it?" Patchouli-sama is rather observant, at least now that she isn't reading in one of her books…

"That is correct. I defeated her in a danmaku battle, but she wanted to stop me by using her swords against me. That cut was more of a warning, it wasn't meant to hurt me, in my opinion." Konpaku-san was rather honourable, I think. How foolish…

"So, did you kill her? I don't mind, but you should tell me." Hm, for some reason I did not. There was something about her… or was it rather in myself? I don't know, but it doesn't matter. I never approved of needless killing, neither did my mistress…

"I did not. She was little more than a child with two swords in her hands. It would be inappropriate to kill a child for fooling around, wouldn't it?" That is also part of the problem. She is little more than a child, by youkai standards, I think.

"The appearance can deceive, you should know that. But it's probably better this way, I don't want to be chased around like that again." She is referring to our time outside. There were always some ignorant fools believing themselves to do righteous things by attacking us…

"Of course I know that, you are one of the best possible examples, my mistress. I didn't want to bar the doors of this place for you, so I held back." That's only partially true, but a good servant should always have a secret or two of their own…

"Good work. So, what about that mistress you mentioned?" She doesn't seem to suspect anything, so I will leave it at that. I am not sure how I feel about that entire situation myself, so I will rather think about it on my own, when I'm not half asleep…

"Yes, the mistress. She was the sacrifice offered to seal the Saigyou Ayakashi, if I am not mistaken, at least her spirit was. You should know about that, otherwise Patchouli-sama would probably be more suited to explain such things."

"You mean Yuyuko Saigyouji? Hm, I wasn't aware of the fact that her soul remains there. Well, that was to be expected." Patchouli-sama seems to hold a certain interest in this as well. I hope this doesn't go on for too long…

"Yes, I defeated her in a danmaku battle and she promised to return the spring. After that I collected the ingredients and bound the spirits and retur-" 'Yawn' I couldn't hold it any longer, so I quickly put my hand in front of my mouth and let out my yawn.

"Sakuya… Go to sleep already. You are tired, aren't you? You could just say so…" Of course my mistress is right, though I don't really want to admit it. Well, a perfect servant has to know her limits as well, so I should finally rest.

"I apologize, my mistress. I should have said something earlier, but I didn't sleep for the past few days. I didn't want to bother you with such trivial things, but I would probably make mistakes if I stay awake for much longer. Please excuse me for today…"

"Geez, Sakuya… I don't have much use for a dead servant, you know? Humans are frail like that, they can die from exhaustion and such things. And no matter what you think of yourself, your body is human, so treat it as such."

"Of course, my mistress, it won't happen again unless it is necessary." I drop a courtesy directed to my mistress and Patchouli-sama. They give me a nod and continue the conversation without me.

It is unusual for my mistress to worry about such things, but I am very grateful today. I might have fallen asleep while standing there if they had left me out of the discussion for a while… Hm, Koakuma, Patchouli-sama's servant or perhaps rather familiar is also working a lot, even at this hour.

Meiling should take a page from her book. I bet she's fast asleep in her bed right now despite the fact that she probably slept through half her shift and spend the other half reading mangas or something like that while we work so hard…

Well, enough of those things, I can worry about that tomorrow. No, it is already tomorrow. Well, in the evening when I return from the human village. For now I should just return to my tower and sleep, I have a lot of sleep to catch up on…

…

Youmu's POV, the next morning

…

Mmh, light is shining through the windows. It's quite warm for my taste, though not as warm as yesterday. The whole fighting required a lot of movement, so I felt very warm. And then there was the back of Izayoi-san…

I felt so very alive yesterday, yet I almost died… I can count myself lucky, I guess. A youkai might have killed and eaten me, given the opportunity. And any other human would have probably killed me as well in such a situation.

I wonder why she didn't… she even helped me afterwards and took care of the cuts. It wasn't really necessary, my wounds are healed already, but it was a very kind gesture, in spite of her icy stare and her cruel words…

Maybe it was just a whim of hers or a whim of fate, maybe there was something else behind it I can't quite understand. Not that it really matters, I am alive. I don't think I was ever this thankful to wake up in the morning…

She has been going through my thoughts a lot recently. I just met her yesterday for a short while, but I thought about our encounter for half of the night. I will go to the human village today, and from there we will go to the Scarlet Devil Mansion…

I should prepare myself. My things are packed, but I still have to wash myself and prepare breakfast. As if Yuyuko-sama would leave without breakfast… Well I'm off to the bathroom. Yuyuko-sama is probably still asleep…

…

Well, I am all clean and dressed, I think that I am fine to go. Of course I don't look as elegant as Sakuya… I mean Izayoi-san… looked yesterday, but I think I can still impress her, when compared to yesterday.

I'm wearing a rather elegant version of my usual dress, with some nice motifs of butterflies and black lines. I also made this one myself, as well as the other ones. I don't come to the human village too often, but I damage my clothes rather often during work, so I have to…

"Youmu, are you ready? I thought you were the one who wanted to go to the Scarlet Devil Mansion…" I thought so as well, it is rather unusual for Yuyuko-sama to stand up this early. Is she already anticipating the food?

"Yes, I am ready. I'm sorry for making you wait…" Actually I am looking forward to it as well, I'm wondering what Izayoi-san might prepare for us, if we can even stay there. And we don't know if she would cook for us, even if we were allowed to stay…

"No problem. And don't worry, I am sure that the maid will serve us once we are there. If the mistress accepts us, that is." That is relieving… wait, how did Yuyuko-sama know that!? Unless she was worrying about that as well…

"We can worry about that once we arrive there. Do you want something to eat before we leave?" I think that there should be some leftovers from yesterday, but if Yuyuko-sama is awake already that probably means…

"No, thank you. I already ate what was left and I want to get there as soon as possible. I can barely hold back my excitement~" Yuyuko-sama… you will embarrass me if you act like this in front of Izayoi-san and her mistress…

Her mistress must be a very refined lady if her maid is as elegant as this… we will probably feel really out of place with the both of them in the same room… I will, at least, I'm not that sure about Yuyuko-sama…

"Well, let us go then. No point wasting any more time here…" The ghosts can take care of themselves and there is no food left that will expire anytime soon. The garden doesn't need anyone to take care of it right now, I already prepared it for winter before this incident.

I never really left the Netherworld, just when I visited the Human Village, and not for long. This will be the first time we will be away for a longer time, if we are accepted there at all. I do hope so, Izayoi-san could teach me a lot…

I would like to learn more about her as well, she seems to be very mysterious. She got here, that's unusual in the first place. And she did so in spite of the fact that she was already rather tired, if I'm not mistaken…

She seemed to have calculated all of my attacks before I even got started, she didn't even have to use her spell cards… And once she did manipulate time I was unable to do anything against her at all…

Her ability is probably one of the strongest I have ever heard of… In a real fight she is quite frightening, in my opinion. She was holding a blade against my throat and speaking to me as if we were sitting and having a cup of tea…

But that also was so cool… How did she get so good, I wonder? How old is she to begin with? I don't think she is even close to Yuyuko-sama or Yukari-sama, but she still seems to be fairly experienced. A human of her physical appearance shouldn't be older than 19, but…

"What are you thinking about, Youmu? Do you have something on your mind? You were awfully quiet today… Is it about yesterday?" Right on the spot… Well, that event did give me a lot to think about.

"Yeah, I've been wondering about all of that. I am not weak, but I had no chance against her. You must be disappointed as well, Yuyuko-sama…" She puts an arm around my shoulder and smiles, just like always…

"Nope, you were doing great, probably… I am just glad that the maid didn't kill you. That was really reckless. Never do that again, alright? NEVER." This is not a joke, I can tell. I did worry her a lot, didn't I?

"I'm sorry… I won't do it again." I won't do anything like that again, it was just stupid… My grandfather would have scolded me as well, if he was here… And now I have a second chance, thanks to Sakuya… Izayoi-san…

"It's alright, no-one got hurt in the end, right? Well, that maid had a scratch on her cheek, but she didn't seem to pay it any attention." That's right, I even hurt her a little bit… She is not at all like other humans I ever saw.

Those in the Human Village were real wimps when compared to her. A little splinter of wood stuck in their hand and they cry… That's the picture of humans I had so far. I guess I was very foolish to believe that all humans are like that…

"If you expect me to be a human you are wrong. I may be a human, that is correct, but I am far from human. In terms of ability. Or morals, for that matter." That was what she told me. Maybe she is just an exception, after all. What did she mean by that…?

Well, not that it matters what she is, I don't care. I'm more interested in who she might be… Human, youkai or anything else, I don't really care. But I want to know what she is like and how she became that way…

If her mistress accepts us I might get the chance to learn about those things and Sakuya-san… I will just stick with that name, it just pops up in my head every time… might even teach me to fight for real… That would be great.

Of course they could just reject us and that would be that, but I hope that won't happen… Not that I could do much about that, it is their home and they can decide who they want there. But I want to visit them…

Probably just another selfish desire, as Sakuya-san called the wish of my mistress… but even so, I don't want to give it up. I may not have the best of reasons, but I just feel that this is how it should be… I don't know why, but that's how I feel… 'Sigh'

"Don't worry about it too much, or you will get wrinkles… Look at me, I'm carefree and I don't have a single one!" I'm not sure about that, but worrying about it won't get me anywhere, will it? I will just focus on the way…

…

Here we are, the Human Village. A very nice and quite place, in my opinion. Here we get our furniture and many different kinds of supplies, like cloth for sewing and meat for cooking. I wonder if Sakuya-san also comes here to shop…

"Youmu, I will go and explore the village for a little bit. You can search for things we need if we can't live there for a while…" That might be a good idea, we should still be prepared for that case.

I can live without a meal once per day, I often do such things as part of my training, but Yuyuko-sama would pester me about that all day. She shouldn't even need to eat at all, yet she eats like a horse. Or two…

And she never makes something either. Well, that is my task, but I would still prefer it if she would help me out from time to time, I am a gardener and not a maid… Not that I could do anything about it, she is my mistress…

I promised grandfather that I would serve her during his absence, no matter how long that might be. I'm sure that he will come back soon enough, so I have to take good care of my mistress until that time.

Yuyuko-sama, she is more than my mistress for me. She is like a mother, from what I know about that. And she has a little bit of an older sister, but most of all she is my friend. I only address her with such formality because I was raised calling her by that name…

Well, what could I need? I don't need any new materials for sewing, so that's off the list. We still have enough supplies stored to get through the entire winter. That could have been troublesome for the humans as well, if spring didn't return now.

I think we rushed our plans a little bit, this could have become a catastrophe for the rest of Gensokyo… I guess we are lucky that Sakuya-san stopped us, I don't think she would tell everyone that we were responsible for that incident.

Otherwise we wouldn't be welcome here anymore, I guess. I would probably be very upset if someone would endanger the Netherworld in such a way… We didn't think enough about the consequences of our actions, did we…?

"Sakuya, do you want to… go out with me sometime or something?" What!? Who is that? It came from an alley. I have a good look from here. Those are Sakuya-san and… some boy from the village?

I think that he works at the furniture shop. He does look pretty good… Somehow I hope that Sakuya-san isn't really going to accept it, thinking about that is a little bit uncomfortable for me… Though I wonder why… Could Yuyuko-sama be right, after all…?

…

Author's note:

Well, here is another chapter. So much for suspension, I already spoiled the conclusion of this confession in the description of the story… Well, not that important. I probably won't be able to upload another chapter next month, I will be out for a long while.

So, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, the next one will probably be told from Youmu's perspective, I will try to keep both perspectives more or less balanced. If there was something bothering you write it down in a review or write me a PM, I might do something about it if it's bothering me as well.

I would also be happy about some suggestions for how this should all continue, though it still lies in my hands if I like those suggestions. Not really something for the major plot, so to speak, but rather for subplots and such things. Of course you don't have to, the most important thing is that you were able to enjoy it. (I certainly did,)


	4. Formal Introductions

Youmu's POV, at the end of the last chapter

"I don't see any reason to do such a thing and even if I had any interest in romantic relationships whatsoever I wouldn't have the time. Would you kindly get out of my way now?" I am pretty glad... I can't see Sakuya's face since I am standing behind her, but it was probably as cold as her tone...

"Hey, wait a second! I really love you! Come on, give me at least one chance..." It is rather mean that I am relieved about this outcome, isn't it? Well, I can't really help it...

"I might have considered it if you had been looking into my eyes instead of staring at my breasts. Go ahead and try it with some naive farmer's daughter, if she was to be stupid enough to fall for your acting she would deserve it. However, get out of my way." Well, no reason to feel sorry for him, I guess. Though I didn't notice that there was anything to stare at, hers weren't much bigger than mine...

"Damn you! You will go out with me, all the way, no matter what you want!" I don't really understand what he means by that... go out "all the way"? But it doesn't sound very good...

"What a pathetic excuse for a human being, driven by little more than instinct alone... You believe you could force me into your bed? You don't know who I am, do you? I shall give you one last warning. Leave at once... or bear the consequences." So that's what he meant... He is even lower than I thought. And Sakuya's voice sounded so chilling...

"You think that you're stronger than me? Haha, that's a good one... I work at the store of my father every day and I know how to fight." That's more than enough! I will cut him down if he even dares to try touching Sakuya!

"Sa- I mean, Izayoi-san, please step aside for a moment..." While she does so, turning around and looking slightly confused, I unsheathe both my blades in a swift motion and point them at this scum.

"What, is your girlfriend trying to sav-" He is cut off by Sakuya disappearing and immediately reappearing behind him with a knife pointed at his throat. "What the fuck!?"

"I would much rather take her if I had to choose between the two of you. She is a good person. You should also thank her, if she hadn't been here you would have been... let's say, spirited away. Never to be heard of again, except for your screams of agony, haunting the night. And one more thing... If you ever try anything of this sort ever again I will personally castrate you with rusty razor blades."

With that she pushes him to the ground where he lands on all fours and delivers a strong kick into... that area. Judging by his screams of agony and looks of her boots, black and heavy leather, I would say that did hurt him a whole lot... And she said she would much rather take me than him... Can I regard that as a compliment? Well, not really, but I still feel somewhat...

"Konpaku-san, was it? I suppose my gratitude is in order. Thank you very much for helping me out." I feel somewhat ashamed... I barely did anything at all and she says it as if I had saved her... Even if she had needed help all she would've had to do was to call for help, we are close to the market...

"N-No, I really didn't do anything at all. You had no trouble with him either way and all I did wasn't necessary..." Now she is standing right in front of me. Something about her seems very out of place and odd, though her clothes are pretty much the same as yesterday...

"Well, I never was in any real danger as you seem to know, but you tried to help and that alone is reason enough to thank you, is it not?" There is definitely something strange about her appearance, but it isn't her face or her hair either, so what exactly is it...?

"..." Ah, her breasts... How could I not notice that immediately!? I mean, they are pretty big... and yesterday there seemed to be nothing...

"...Excuse me, but is there anything I can help you with?" I have been staring, haven't I...? And yet again I embarrass myself in front of Sakuya. That seems to become a habit...

"Ah, sorry... My mistress and I actually wanted to ask you something." Hm, how should I tell her about this? I don't think she will be very happy about it, but how exactly will she react...?

"We want to stay at your place for a while~" Argh! Yuyuko-sama, why must you always scare me like this!? I probably jumped a little bit... Well, she did appear out of a wall... But Sakuya seems to be pretty unfazed by this...

"I do not know if that will be possible. I have no authority over this matter. You will have to ask my mistress in person if you seek such a permission. I can not guarantee you that she will accept your request, but I can offer you one night as guests at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, even if she was to reject your request. Of course you shall have rooms, food and other services if needed." That is actually very much, in my opinion...

"By the way, are those real...?" Is Yuyuko-sama... Is she seriously pointing at the breasts of Sakuya and asking "By the way, are those real?"!?

"Yes, they are real, though I do not know how that is of any concern to you..." Wow, I am surprised that she is so calm about this...

"Is that so? Can you prove it? Can you show us~? Touching would also work..."

"Yuyuko-sama! Cut it out!" Seriously, what the hell is she thinking!?

"I apologize, but they are not for display nor for sale. May I ask you to change the topic?" 'Sigh' I guess Sakuya's opinion of us decreased dramatically just now, though her face doesn't betray any sign of it... Well, I shall distract Yuyuko-sama before she says anything else about this...

"...So, what should we have for dinner?" That always works, without fail...

"Oh, dinner! That is a very good question, Youmu. Hm, you mentioned something about food included, didn't you, Sakuya?" Hm, Sakuya doesn't seem to mind it, being called by that name. Maybe she would let me do it as well...?

"Indeed, you just have to tell me what you might want and how you would like it. I can cook for you or you can cook for yourself. We will need some ingredients though. Of course I will pay, seeing how you are guests, at least for tonight." Hm, I suppose one night for sure is better than nothing for now, isn't it?

"I will leave that to you, Youmu~ Well, I will leave you two alone now, I still want to look around a little bit." Hm, humans are a little bit uneasy about ghosts and youkai in the village, but they are used to it, more or less. And Yuyuko-sama should be fine, she is not very aggressive or anything. So that leaves me with Sakuya...

"Well then, what would you like? Do you want to cook on your own or do you want me to make something? What ingredients or what dish do you want? If there is anything you want I will get it for you. I am at your service, Konpaku-sama." This is... really strange. We are just going to buy something for dinner and she makes it sound like some oath of loyalty.. And why the sudden change from -san to -sama...?

"I think we can just browse through some stores and see what we find there. I don't know yet, but I'm sure that I'll find something. And why are you addressing me in such a way?" Well, I guess we are guests, but it just feels a little bit...

"As you wish... Is that address not acceptable? If you want me to call you in a different manner I shall comply. By what name shall I call you? What honorific would be in accordance with your wishes?" Her manner of speech is a little bit... strange, to say the least. Well, I guess it is common for her to address guests in such a way, but I don't think it suits me...

"Um, you can just call me Youmu, if you don't mind. Honorifics aren't really necessary, I am used to being called by my name without any honorific Would you mind if I called you Sakuya? I'm sorry, but Izayoi-san is just a little bit... uncomfortable to pronounce." That came out a little bit rude, I think...

"If that is what you wish for, Youmu... Shall we go?" It is a little bit strange, but my grandfather and Yuyuko-sama always just called me Youmu, so I am rather unused to honorific Well, visitors still address me with honorific, but we rarely have those in the netherworld. Sakuya doesn't seem to be too comfortable with this either...

"Yeah, let's go. We will have to buy a lot of things..." Yuyuko-sama will be expecting a feast, of that I am sure... I'm a little bit embarrassed... I mean, Sakuya will probably think that we are gluttons. Well, that is true for one of us, to be honest.

"...A lot of things? Are we expecting more guests than yourself and your mistress?" Well, I don't think she could believe it if I told her that almost all of it would be for my mistress, but it is true. If we eat dinner with her and her mistress that will probably be a horrible contrast... I with food that is suited mostly for training, Sakuya and her mistress probably won't eat very much either, at least Sakuya seems to be rather thin... And Yuyuko-sama with a whole banquet...

"...No, just the two of us. I'm sorry..." Seeing how Sakuya is so elegant and how she seems so sophisticated I think her mistress will be very much the same. And my mistress on the other hand... Well, Yuyuko-sama can be very elegant and sophisticated, she just usually chooses not to be...

"It would be rude to ask any further questions, so I shall leave it at that. Now that I think about it, will you sleep in separate rooms or would you prefer a single room for both of you? A single bed, perhaps?" I think Sakuya kind of got the wrong way about our relationship... Well, she is just asking and I guess it's reasonable to ask that if you would have to prepare the rooms or something like that...

"We will take two separate rooms, thank you." We are already at the store for meat... I didn't even notice how we got here with all the somewhat awkward talking... It's not really Sakuya's fault, it was just the topics... Well, she doesn't seem to be the talkative type either, unless you ask her...

"Oh, hello there, Konpaku-san. And Izayoi-san as well? I never saw the two of you at the same time in the village. Did you meet recently or something?" Hm, the shop-owner A chubby and kind woman, a little bit clumsy. I usually don't have very much contact with the humans while I'm here, but she always basically forces her customers into talks...

"I guess you could say that..." We did meet fairly recently. Just yesterday, actually...

"Youmu, what do you want to buy? You will have to decide what your mistress and you wish to dine tonight." Well, Yuyuko-sama's instructions were very vague, at best... She will probably want something rather foreign, something of which I don't know how to make it. Maybe Sakuya would be better at choosing the ingredients and the meal itself...

"Oh my, did you finally start warming up to others, Izayoi-san? I never heard you calling anyone else by their fist name, especially without honorific So you must be good friends?" I don't think that's the case... Sakuya doesn't seem to be very happy about this...

"Uh, well,.could you make dinner, Sakuya? I think Yuyuko-sama would really appreciate something rather foreign, if you know such recipes..." Maybe we can just distract that person by making our orders...

"So you are visiting Izayoi-san!? I almost thought that would never happen, she is always so cold towards the others. I am sure that you'll have it better with some friends, there are a lot of nice pe-"

"May you take our orders? Time doesn't wait for either of us." I think she could freeze the air in the shop if she tried to sound any frostier... I can almost feel a chill running down my spine. And the shop-owner too, apparently.

"Yes, I'm sorry, what can I get you?" Wow, I never saw that person so quiet. That is a blessing, in this situation. I almost wish I could do that. Whenever I try to sound like this Yuyuko-sama usually just laughs at me and tells me how cute and unfitting that would be... Sakuya's words on the other hand can cut through the atmosphere just as her knives would...

"Hm, I suppose something European should be fairly foreign in these lands... So what should it be... Something with beef should be a lot. I think one cow should be plentiful. Yes, one complete cow it is. Organs included, if I may ask for that. Is that sufficient?" I simply nod. Wow, that is a lot. Even Yuyuko-sama should have enough for two days or more with this much. European... I think I read about that somewhere...

"One entire cow!? You do realize that is enough for three families, right?" Well, probably... If it was just Sakuya and I we could do with much less, I think. But Yuyuko-sama is a different matter...

"Did I not make that clear enough for you? Yes, one cow. Everything except for the skin and other parts that are not edible. Is that clear enough?" I think the shopkeeper got the message... There is quite a contrast when comparing how Sakuya treats us and how she treats the villagers, now that I think about it. Maybe it's because she sees us as guests?

"That is a lot to carry... Would you like to take it with you once you are prepared to leave?" I think that would be the best solution, it would be much more convenient than carrying it around the village for the whole time.

"Yes, thank you. We will return when we are done here." Well, so much for that. We still have to pay, but we can do that once we're done, so we leave the store. For now, what else could we need...? Now that I think about it, I would like to know more about that "European".

"Sakuya, could I ask you something? You mentioned the word "European" earlier, but what exactly is that?" I think it has something to do with the outside world, but a human shouldn't know very much about that and certainly not what recipes they have there...

"Oh, Europe? Well, it is of little concern to you. It is a continent of another world, so to speak. The outside world, as some call it here, the place from where Gensokyo was originally." Hm, Sakuya knows a lot about the outside world. That knowledge is fairly uncommon amongst most humans these days, but Sakuya isn't just any human...

"Well, I guess you'll be cooking today, right? I don't really know any recipes from Europe or such things. What will you need?" I am really curious what it will be like. I don't know what I should expect, but I guess that Sakuya is good at cooking. I wonder if there is anything she isn't good at...

"Yes, I suppose so. Rice should do well, since we have no potatoes or the like... Some vegetables as well. What should we take for the flavour? Mint sauce? Hm..." I don't know anything about those things, though I do like mint. It is rather refreshing.

"Well, we will have to go to the greengrocery in that case." Know that I am standing close to her I can see her features a lot better. She is very beautiful... Though her eyes aren't actually grey, it was probably just the illumination yesterday that made it seem so. They are like wonderful deep lakes, blue as a crystal can be...

"Indeed. Do you or does your mistress have any preferences in terms of vegetables?" Her skin is very smooth and rather pale in comparison to other humans, she looks more like someone of my own kind, though she doesn't seem to have a spirit half. And she is so tall, a head above me or something like that...

"Uh, no, I can't think of anything. My mistress usually tries just about anything and I am not really picky about my food." I think she just smiled a little bit, though she doesn't really look at me or anything else close by. It's more like she's staring to a very distant place, or even a distant time... In spite of all her elegance and beauty, she looks very lonely. Almost like a statue... or rather a forsaken doll, left behind for n eternity...

"Very well... Let us get the remaining things." With that she is walking ahead of me, browsing through the different stores at a very high speed...

...

"Well, that should be everything we need. If this is not enough I do not know what would be." Sakuya is right, we have at least fifty kilos of meat, vegetables, kitchen utensils and I don't even know what else we might have. She also brought two big canisters with her, one full of milk and the other one... I don't really know.

"Yes, that should be plentiful. Should I carry it?" Sakuya is a good bit taller than me, but I am still stronger, in terms of raw physical strength and endurance. A human could never hope to come close to such a level of physical strength, their bodies can only endure so much. At least that is what my grandfather told me.

"You don't have to, it would be rude to ask you to carry that for me. You are already carrying your luggage and, if anything, I should ask you if you would like me to carry that for you." Hm, I can hardly ask for that. I mean, I am the one who wants to ask Sakuya for a favour..

"Sakuya, I will carry it. I would like to ask you for a personal favour later on, so I should be the one to carry that, it is the least I can do." She has more than enough money and everything, there is very little I could offer her in return for the training, if she even agrees...

"Did I just hear "a personal favour"? Youmu, you should tell me about such things. I didn't know you were that close already~" I think Yuyuko-sama is getting the wrong idea... Why does she always tease me like that, even in front of others? Especially in front of Sakuya...

"...I think we should depart now. There is nothing to be gained by standing around in this village..." Sakuya doesn't seem to be too upset, though she sounds a little bit... irritated. I can hardly blame her. She just gives me the bags and walks towards the exit of the village...

"Thank you very much, Yuyuko-sama... Seriously, do you have to be like that?" I don't think this will leave a good impression... At this rate she will never accept us. Well, her mistress probably won't, she seems to fairly neutral on this topic...

"Aww, I didn't mean to bother you. I didn't think you would actually want to go for it, but your reaction just now..." I never had any intention of that sort to begin with! Now Yuyuko-sama is just putting words into my mouth!

"Yuyuko-sama! I just want to train with her! I mean, she is beautiful and she seems to be rather nice, but I didn't come here for that!" Uh... I didn't really want to say all that, it just slipped out...

"Fufu, say what you want, your face is much more honest. I don't think I ever saw you so read. That looks pretty cute on you~" I am glad that Sakuya already went ahead, I think Yuyuko-sama might be right, to some extend...

"Could you please stop that? Please, just watch your manners while we are there, just this once. I really don't want you to insult Sakuya or her mistress.." If Yuyuko-sama ruins this I might never get such a chance again...

"Well, I guess I should try that, otherwise I won't get to savour the food there for very long, will I?" Hm, that is true. I don't think that is the entire reason, she probably agreed for me as well... but she does profit as well.

"Thank you very much, Yuyuko-sama! Maybe they will let us stay, but we should not decrease these chances by offending them..." Well, even if they let us stay I will have to ask Sakuya about training me, I don't know about that as well. So many possible failures...

"Excuse me, but are we leaving? Or do you need a moment in privacy?" Oh, right! I completely forgot about Sakuya, she was waiting patiently for us until just now... everything just always seems to turn from smoke to smother and I can't even tell if Sakuya is angry, offended or whatever else...

"We are sorry, we just had to resolve something. We are coming." I just hope that Yuyuko-sama will hold back, at least a little bit... I do like her, but her teasing can get pretty annoying. And the things she teases me about as well...

"Very well. In that case we should depart. There are still a lot of things I have to take care of before the sun sets." We are probably causing her a lot of trouble, though there are probably many other maids at her place. I mean, a mansion has to be pretty big and one person couldn't do all the work on her own. Well, she might be able to, but I don't think so...

"Excuse me, Sakuya, could I ask you something?" We are already outside of the village. I think I should learn something about Sakuya's mistress and the customs of the mansion. The Scarlet Devil Mansion... I wonder how it got that name.

"You may ask me anything, though I will not answer every question." Well, that answer was to be expected, if it would be something very important for her mistress or herself she probably won't answer. But maybe she will tell us some general information about her mistress and her home.

"I was just wondering about your mistress. Could you tell us something about her?" Sakuya seems to consider it for a moment and slowly nods. Though she probably won't tell us everything there is to know...

"Well, you probably already heard that my mistress is not human? She is a vampire, I suppose you could see her as a sort of youkai. She is very powerful, I would say that she could very well keep up with your mistress, though that is just my guess..."

"And how is her character?" Hm, if Sakuya says that she is very powerful that is probably true... I am not sure if she is stronger than Sakuya, but I would suspect that. So Sakuya might not even be the strongest resident of that mansion...

"I suppose you could say that she is firm but fair. She is very intelligent and charismatic, though she may not always choose to show that." Well, I can't really imagine what Sakuya's mistress is like, but she seems to be a good person.

"And what does she look like? Are there any things we have to be careful about?" Well, those are pretty important questions, I guess. It is almost surprising for me that Yuyuko-sama asked these instead of making another improper remark...

"I don't think I could tell you anything about those things, I could not describe it properly. It would be best to meet her in person. As long as you remain courteous you should have no trouble, unless she isn't very fond of you or deems you as uninteresting." Well, I think Yuyuko-sama is by no means uninteresting, but I... Hm, it will work out some way.

"That remains to be seen. Sakuya, would you tell us something about yourself?" She is raising her eyebrow slightly, I guess she isn't exactly used to this topic. Well, I guess I wouldn't know what I should tell someone whom I barely know about myself either...

"There is not much to know about me. I am just the faithful servant of my mistress, that is all. I work as the chief maid at the Scarlet Devil Mansion and that is about everything you need to know." Well, that wasn't very insightful... I barely know anything new about her...

"Where do you come from? How old are you? What did you do before you worked at the Scarlet Devil Mansion?" Well, I want to know that as well, but Yuyuko-sama just bombarded Sakuya with all these questions... She doesn't seem to be comfortable about it either...

"I apologise for my rude behaviour, but I will not be able to answer these questions to your satisfaction. I have worked for my mistress for a very long time. She gave me a name, food and a home. I have left my past behind. If you wish to know anything about what I did prior to that you would have to ask my mistress, I would rather not tell."

"All right, thank you. You must have your reasons and we won't try to force you if you don't want to..." I still would have liked to get to know more about Sakuya, but I can accept this. Maybe her mistress would rather talk about it...

"I thank you most sincerely for your understanding, I appreciate it." Yuyuko-sama doesn't seem to be very delighted by this outcome either, but she seems to accept it for now. I think that we should not bother Sakuya too much either, I still want to ask her to train me, otherwise staying at her place would be pretty pointless, at least for me...

"Uh, it's no big deal, I mean, it's your choice anyway." With that we fall into an awkward silence which stays for most of the flight...

...

Hm, I think we are almost there. Sakuya just landed. Yuyuko-sama and I follow suit. There is a great building in a little distance, all in red and black. So this must be the Scarlet Devil Mansion... it is a very impressive and almost intimidating scene to behold, this building, as the setting sun shines with the red of blood... I would almost call it a castle instead of a mansion.

There are quite some towers and one in the middle has a great dial on it. According to the hands of this clock it should be half past six. It was quite a long way and I think we would have probably gone astray in the heavy mist surrounding this place. The water of the misty lake reflects the light as well. Such a scene... I have never seen anything like it.

"Wow, this sure is amazing... I guess we have arrived at our destination, right? So, what should we do now?" Yuyuko-sama also seems to be amazed by this scene. Well, who wouldn't be? We don't leave the netherworld very often and there probably aren't many places such as this one to begin with. Sakuya is leading the way to a gate in some distance.

"Indeed, we have arrived at our destination. Allow me to formally welcome you to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. For now I would suggest that you inspect the guest rooms and determine which ones would be to your liking, there are plenty to choose from. Separate rooms, rooms with one bed for two, rooms with two beds... whatever you may want."

"Thank you, Sakuya. Separate rooms are just fine." Yuyuko-sama looks as if she was about to protest for a second, but seems to have decided against it. Hm, now we are at the gate. It looks very old and rusty, but I think it would still be quite an obstacle. The iron bars are quite thick and not one part of the gate is damaged in any way. It probably just looks fragile...

"Sakuya? You are pretty late, compared to other times. And who are those two? Intruders?" Oh, there seems to be a gatekeeper as well. She has very long red hair and a strange green cap with a bronze star on it. There is a plaster on her forehead for some reason... Two braids at the sides of her face and the rest of her hair is falling down. And a green dress, though the colour is rather olive green.

"These are guests of the mansion. I expect you to treat them as such. If I may introduce you... Saigyouji Yuyuko, the mistress of the netherworld, and Konpaku Youmu, her gardener. This is Hong Meiling, the gatekeeper of this mansion." She looks rather nice, with a somewhat sheepish smile.

"Nice to meet you. Meiling is fine. I am also somewhat of a gardener, for the unsubtle parts of it at least. Sakuya would probably never let me touch the rose garden..." Hm, I wonder in what kind relationship they are. Meiling seems to be pretty informal with Sakuya...

"Meiling-san, I have to ask you to watch your language. It is Izayoi-san for you." Sakuya on the other hand seems to be rather repellent... Well, she already said that she has no time for romantic relationships and such things...

"You can call me Yuyuko. And I don't think Youmu would mind if you called her that way either." Well, I am used to that name, so it's fine. Though Sakuya doesn't seem to be too pleased with the way we are all addressing each other...

"Yes, Youmu is just fine." I guess that it is pretty unusual for us all to be addressing each other by our first name. Usually strangers would use honorific and the family name instead. Well, I rarely have contact with anyone other than Yuyuko-sama or her friends, so we usually stick with the first name.

"Very well, if you would excuse us, I still have to show our new guests around. Your shift is not over yet either way, so you should stay vigilant. I do not wish to see even one intruder, understood?" Well, it is pretty obvious that Sakuya is in charge here. If I didn't know it any better I would say she was the mistress of this mansion...

"Of course, vigilant as always! Have a nice stay!" Sakuya heaves a heavy sigh and opens the gate, making a creaking noise in the process. This place somehow feels very old, almost as if time wouldn't move or mean anything at all here... To be honest Sakuya herself also somewhat gives off that feeling, she kinda reminds me of a doll or a statue. Not that she doesn't have a personality or anything, it's hard to describe...

"Now then, would you please follow me? My mistress will not receive any visitors until the new day begins, so I might as well show you around." The garden is also very strange... there are some very old statues, they might have been of white and polished marble once, but now they are time-worn and moss-covered, the vines of flowerless roses coiling around their crumbling bodies as if trying to strangle them...

"This is the garden, as you might have already guessed. Of course there is little to see here at present, but the scenery is quite different in summer when the roses are in full bloom. Perhaps a small demonstration..." Sakuya seems to concentrate on some for the roses for a moment and it looks as if they grow and blossom instantly... This should have taken some months, so I think she is fairly good with her ability...

"Quite impressive, Sakuya. Your abilities are truly a joy to behold..." I think Yuyuko-sama is absolutely right, this is an amazing ability... I can't even compete with that, not with all my strength, speed or stamina... But I think she would be the perfect training partner for me, the only other ones who could match my physical abilities would be others of my kind or the tengu...

"Oh, it was nothing. Here, a small gift for you..." She holds two of them with her hands and cuts them off with a knife. After that she hands one to Yuyuko-sama and myself. "Be careful, these roses have thorns..." She is right, they don't appear to be cultured roses, the have many small thorns and blossoms of a red almost like blood...

"Thank you very much, they are very beautiful. But what about your hands?" I could clearly see that Sakuya wasn't very careful when picking them. There are many small pricks on the hand with which she picked them...

"Do not worry about that, it doesn't hurt me and in the blink of an eye I could erase those." There are small droplets of blood gathering on her hand, but she really doesn't seem to mind it at all. Now that I think about it...

"Sakuya, I have brought your handkerchiefs along to return them to you. Here, please take them." I hand them back to her. She seems to be a little bit surprised, but takes them back to clean her hand. After that the pricks close almost immediately. I guess her ability can also speed up the healing processes of her body...

"You sure are full of surprises, aren't you? I can see why someone would want you as a servant, though I am wondering why someone as strong as you would serve someone..." That is actually a little bit strange, in my opinion. Sakuya seems to be more than capable of living alone, she could keep up with most of the youkai here and she seems to have money as well. So it's probably rather a personal matter, I guess.

"It is a little bit... complicated. If I am not mistaken I already told you that I would rather not speak of such things, did I not?" It is a little bit frustrating, almost as if we were trying to ask a statue. Well, there are things I rather wouldn't talk about with anyone as well, so I can't really blame her. Everyone has some secrets of their own, right?

"Yes, you did. I'm sorry for Yuyuko-sama's behaviour. It just seems to be a very interesting topic, but we can understand it if there are some things you'd rather not talk about." Well, maybe she would tell us something about this if we got to know her a little bit closer. As friends, I mean... Not that I was against a different possibility entirely, it just doesn't seem very likely... and Yuyuko-sama would tease me forever about that...

"Very well. Let us continue. This mansion is fairly spacious and I think it would be best if I could finish this tour before taking care of different matters." It sure looks as if Sakuya's mistress could invite the entire human village and still have a lot of free rooms if she wanted to... It must be hell of a lot of work to keep this place clean, seeing how I have to spend quite some time cleaning our home in the netherworld. This place is many times bigger...

"Hey, Sakuya? Can we walk around wherever we want to or are there some places we can't go?" I could understand it if there were certain areas restricted to the staff or the private rooms of Sakuya, her mistress and the personnel...

"There are few places where you should not be without the permission of my mistress. The building in the middle of this place is one such place. Otherwise you are free to move around however you would like to. However, do not go into the basement any further than into the library. If you do you will have to do it at your own peril, we will not take any responsibility if anything was to happen to you. There is a labyrinth, do not enter it if you value your life... or undeath."

"That sounds pretty dangerous. What exactly is down there?" I don't think Sakuya would warn us like that if it was something we could take care of without too much trouble. I can hardly imagine that there would be anything that could really harm Yuyuko-sama, ghosts are as good as immortal, but prevention is better than cure.

"Many items which are very dangerous are stored there and some other things as well. I would suggest that you leave that place alone. There are some traps to guard said items as well and they could probably even hurt you." Now Yuyuko-sama seems to be fairly curious, but I will make sure that she won't go there...

"All right, anything else we should know? "

"That would be everything. You can call me or one of the other maids, should I not be close by, whenever you need something. You can make yourself at home. Please come in." That sounds like a lot of effort, I wonder how many other maids work here. I wouldn't want to be a bother for Sakuya or the staff here, but a little bit of holiday doesn't sound too bad either...

"This place sure has a rather gloomy atmosphere, hasn't it?" Well, Yuyuko-sama is right about that, the interior of this place seems to be fairly dark as well, the colours vary from red to black and there are almost no windows... The candle holders on the walls all seem to ignite at once, probably the work of Sakuya. Or they are magical candles... Not that it matters.

There is also a very large portrait on the wall, a small girl with a pink dress, a pink mob cap over her short, dark blue hairs and bat wings on her back. Her eyes are of a dark red, they look as if they were emitting light on their own... She is probably a youkai of some sort. There is another silhouette in the back of the picture, but I can barely identify anything about it. There are some crystals in bright colours surrounding it, but most of it is covered in darkness.

"It might seem to have a gloomy atmosphere to you, I think my mistress wanted it to have that effect. Well then, should we got and search rooms for you? And... Youmu, please give me the purchases, I will bring them to the kitchen." I guess that is a good idea, I was growing kind of tired of carrying them around. I hand them to Sakuya and a moment later they are gone, Sakuya seemingly still standing there.

"Now for the rooms... What would be in accordance with your tastes? Or should I just show you the rooms we have?" The decorations are fairly foreign, it doesn't feel like anything I have ever seen anywhere else, except for the house of Yukari-sama perhaps. She has many strange decorations such as these...

"You can just show us around, we will decide it while we look around." It will be nice to put down the luggage after all this time...

…

author's note: Well, it's been a while. I had quite some trouble to take care of, I apologise for how long it took me. I think the characters are getting pretty out of character, but I hope it's still enjoyable. Next time we will probably get some more action. This chapter is completely from Youmu's POV because I wanted to re-establish the balance, I had too much written from Sakuya's perspective. From the next one onwards I will try to distribute it equally again. This chapter was a little bit lame, but I think that will change soon. After all Remilia will get her great entrance. I hope I will be able to get it across as well. Till then.


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